Kingdom Hearts: Genesis of Destiny
by SirAngelo
Summary: Sora, Kairi and Riku, along with two new allies, are forced onto yet another journey against the darkness as they begin to travel down the road of destiny. SxK, RxN, OCxOC. Ch 48-50: The End! Please Read & Review
1. Prolouge

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing but what I created. Also, you chose to read this, so don't be disappointed if you don't like it. Other wise enjoy._

Chapter 1: Prolouge

A person is composed of three parts: a heart, a body and a soul. When a person falls to darkness, whether within or without, the parts of the person take on new forms.

As discovered by Ansem and his apprentices, when a heart succumbs to the shadows they become a Heartless, doomed to wander the worlds looking for other hearts to plunge into the darkness. They operate on instinct not on a higher purpose or even true intelligence but are still a dangerous threat.

When a person of a strong will is turned into a Heartless sometimes their body and soul will begin to act in a manner of its own. The body becomes perverted from its original form, twisted by the powers of nothingness.

These are the Nobodies.

They fight on a higher purpose than their Heartless brethren; searching for the hearts they lost to become complete.

But, what if the fraction of the Nobody were to fracture even more?

The body cannot exist long without a heart and so it will eventually dissipate into nothingness leaving behind a soul with no purpose and no existence whatsoever.

These are Fell Souls. They have carved out their own dimension and so do not interact with others much often but when they leave their world they do it to search out for someone strong to give them purpose.

Another question rises though, what if the fraction were to be completed again under false means?

When a Nobody and Heartless fuse together under unnatural circumstance they create beings that are complete yet incomplete, they exist yet were never meant to exist. The first of these ever to be born called himself an Immortal.

Each group has plans, purposes and goals but Immortals are a mystery. Creatures that can seemingly live on forever, that look like, act like and think like us. What could they possibly be their goal?

_There was a time when I had no purpose I just lived. Now I have a true purpose to follow._

_There was a time when darkness ruled me. Now I rule darkness._

_There was a time where I was always helpless, always needed saving. That time has passed for me._

_This is the time where I prove what I truly am. To prove that I am no monster, that I can exist despite all the stigmas around me._

_This is our time. Our story. It begins now._

_Door to Nothingness (does it exist?)_

_Door to Darkness (cannot be opened)_

_Door to Twilight (not yours to open)_

_Door to Light (who shall open it?)_

_"Everything is my fault."_

_"Everywhere I go, people die."  
_

_"I will protect my friends. I will die for them."_

_"You cannot hope to win. You have lost."_

_"We can't fail."_

_"Everything begins now."_

_"Everything ends now."_

_"You may think that your journey has already begun. But that was nothing, in the coming years; you will all face trials like no other. Be ready. This is your story. The Door to Light awaits, I hope you will be ready when it comes."_

Genesis is the first book of the Bible in Judaism and Christianity; it comes from the Greek word for "birth" or "origin".

Destiny is the idea of a person's purpose in life as set forth by some higher power.

Now we shall see the birth of the purpose of the Keyblade Masters and their friends. They will make new allies and encounter old ones. They will face foes both new and old.

Sora. Riku. Kairi.

These three will set forth on a journey to set the worlds to right once again. Whether they succeed or fail, that is for fate to decide.

I, the legendary Key Knight Terra, failed where they once began but I will see them through as much as I can. This story will now unfold…

**To Be Continued**

_This fanfic will include several worlds already seen in Kingdom Hearts plus three new worlds, one Disney, two other sources and a few OCs_

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	2. Homestead

_Disclaimer: Once again, I own nothing._

Chapter 2: Homestead

They were back, that is all that mattered. Riku and Sora had returned from the brink of nothingness back to their home. After nearly two years of travel. The Destiny Islands waited for them.

And so did Kairi.

After clambering out of the water, after the storm of hugs, after the welcome homes, Sora stood by Kairi, the person he had searched high and low for so long, was now in arms reach.

"Sora! Riku!" The King said from behind Sora. "What happened to you two?"

"Xemnas. He disrupted the portal and held us back to fight." Riku explained to the King, as well as his court wizard, Donald, the captain of his knights, Goofy, and Kairi.

"Xemnas! But I thought we stopped him!" Goofy shouted in shock.

"No, he was still kicking." Sora said. "But we stopped him again. The Organization is gone."

"Finally." Kairi said, almost a whisper, with a smile.

"What?" Sora looked confused, but what's new.

Riku butted in. "We can finally live normal lives. Y'know, worry about school, getting dates, graduation, all the things a normal teenager should worry about."

"Right, instead of…" Donald began.

"Fighting off cabals of evil villains." Said Goofy.

"Wielding artefacts of incredible power." Mickey said.

"Tackling the forces of darkness day after day." Riku added.

"And fighting a group of powerful non-beings." Kairi finished.

"A normal life." Sora milled the words through his mind for a while until he noticed the three warriors from Disney were slowly leaving. "Hey! Where are you three going?"

"We're going home Sora." The King explained. "We'd love to stick around but I have a kingdom to run."

"Goodbye Mickey." Riku waved off his long time travelling companion. Kairi and Sora echoed his farewell.

"Be good Sora." Donald said to his friend.

"We'll see you all real soon." Goofy added in.

Within seconds, a Gummi Ship flew down from the sky at the behest of Mickey and his little remote and the three returned home to their castle.

"And that leaves us." Riku said solemnly, nodding.

"Huh?" Sora scratched his head.

"We have some explaining to do." Riku told his friend. "Maybe not so much Kairi but I now you and I have to come up with a pretty good alibi to explain our year and a half absence."

"Well, I was going to tell my parents the truth. I think they'd believe me and I can trust them to keep a secret." By now the three were walking up a trail back from the beach into town.

"I guess that'll be easier than my idea." Riku paused for a second. "But I really don't want to worry my mom about the… less than savoury parts in my story" Riku was still sore about the time he spent as Maleficent's apprentice and the short time he was possessed by Xehanort's Heartless. Then there was that point when he was DiZ's tool and pretty much ruined the lives of Roxas and Namine.

"Well, I know I am telling mine about what happened. My parents, well I guess adoptive parents." Kairi was referencing the revelation of her being born as Princess of the Radiant Garden. "I don't know how much they know of this but I think know more than they let on."

"Anyways, I think the three of us should get together tonight." Sora said. "You know, a nice relaxing night, a little break considering what we just went through."

The three friends then left to tell their parents of what had been transpiring and revolving around their "sweet and innocent" children for the past 18 months.

Upon entering their homes, Sora and Riku's mothers broke down into tears at the sight of their sons. It took a while to explain the story to the parents of the Keyblade Warriors and it took a Keyblade summoning to actually convince them, but this wasn't really all too important. The important thing is that their children were home and safe after so much time of uncertainty.

Things were actually starting to look normal.

_Four months later…_

Sora and Riku were sitting on the beach following their last day of school for the year. Graduation was tomorrow. They were only in the Eleventh Grade but it was school tradition that all seniors attend the ceremony.

The last four months were hectic to say the least but they made it through the gauntlet known as school. Right now though, their minds were on the final battle they fought some time earlier.

"Nothing's changed huh?" Riku asked, leaning up against a tree.

"Nope, and nothing will." Sora paused and thought for a moment. "Hey Riku, what do you think it was? The Door to Light?"

Riku smirked and pointed to Sora's heart. "This."

Before Sora could reply he heard someone cry out. "Sora! Riku!" Kairi was running their way, out of breath, and holding a bottle. Inside it was a note containing the King's seal.

As she showed them Sora shouted: "The King!" He quickly unfurled the note and began to read the note.

_Dear Sora, Kairi and Riku_

_I know it has been sometime since I contacted you but I have something important to tell you. Within a week or so a rendezvous party will arrive and you will go with them to the Radiant Garden were we will explain everything._

_Sincerely, your friend, King Mickey_

Sora read the letter over a few times before it sunk in. "So much for a normal life." He said with a small sigh.

"Hey, I don't now about you." Riku stated. "But I was getting bored. There's nothing to do on this island."

"I guess we should get our affairs in order." Kairi stood up to leave but Sora opened his mouth.

"Whoa, you're coming too?" He looked confused.

"Well he seems he's inviting all three of us." Sora was about to open his mouth again but Kairi cut him off. "I know this might be dangerous but I am not just sitting on the sidelines again, worrying about you two. I'm coming and that is final."

Sora, defeated, walked off with his friends as they discussed the coming days.

**KHKHKH**

While this was going on, two figures watched the three intently; the first figure, the male, stood about a head and a half higher than the other, who was a girl, who came up to his shoulder (about the same height as Kairi).

"And so the die is cast." The male said as he slowly walked away from their hiding spot in the clearing.

"Where are you going?" The woman asked and the man stopped.

"To cast the other die of course. There are others that we will need and I'm going to fetch them." He started to walk but stopped again. "Keep an eye on these three will you. I know how much trouble they can get into."

"Sure." She looked up at the friends walking away. "By the way, have you found him?"

The taller figure shook his head. "No, but one day we will. Farewell and stay safe." She nodded as the taller figure vanished into thin air.

**To Be Continued**

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	3. Graduation

_SirAngelo: Once again, I own nothing…except for a few voices that appear in this chapter…and some other people that will appear in a chapter or two…and a few others later on in the story…and the majority of the villains…I'm stopping here…_

Chapter 3: Graduation

The graduation ceremony had just begun. The crowd was composed of all the graduates in the front row wearing their robes with the parents and "undergrads" as the tenth (Sora and Kairi) and the eleventh (Riku) grade students were called. The undergrads weren't required to go over-the-top formal so Sora and Riku sat in the back row wearing their school uniform shirts and black slacks. Kairi, who sat between them, wore a simple white dress.

At this point they were listening to the class valedictorian drone on un-charismatically about the future. Sora couldn't care less as he was unbelievably hyped for the coming week. He was going off on another journey but this time he wouldn't have to worry about what danger his friends were in. They would be beside him at all times and he could show them all the great sights and introduce them to all the interesting people that he'd seen and meet.

When the valedictorian walked off the stage, something caught Sora's attention.

"HELLO DESTINY ISLANDS!!" A voice called out through the air. Everyone looked around to see where the voice was coming from but it was nowhere to be seen.

"Tch, what a bunch of hicks. Shouldn't expect much from inhabitants of a backwater world like this." The voice was sneering and undermining. "Now, time for business. We want the Keyblade Masters!"

A murmur rose from the crowd, the majority of them had no idea what a Keyblade Master was.

"You are all pathetic. I thought that maybe someone on this world would know who the Masters are."

"You shouldn't expect more from way out in the boondocks." A second voice spoke up. This one was cold, methodical with traces of insanity. "If any of you know who the Keyblade Masters are, speak now and you and this island will be spared."

Another murmur rose from the crowd, Sora, Riku and Kairi stood up in shock from what was going on but now one else spoke up.

"This is just sad." The first voice spoke again. "No one knows who they are. Hell, they probably don't even know what a Keyblade is! Let me tell you this you losers, if you don't give us the wielders then we will burn this world to the ground. Every tree, every grain of sand, every blade of grass! Hell, I'll pour oil on the sea and burn that down to!"

People were starting to get panicked but the school faculty seemed to think that this was a prank of some sort. The voices knew this.

"Oh, and this is for all the retards out there who think that we're students playing a prank!" The first voice ringed out again. A blue bolt of energy streaked through the sky and hit the stage. Half of the stage immediately exploded while the other half threatened to catch fire. The voice cackled out through the air.

"You're an idiot, Kaiser." The second voice said to the first.

"I'm just having some fun you psycho." The first voice, Kaiser snapped back at the other voice. "And if anyone is an idiot, it's you Kira for using my name."

"Silence, the both of you." A third voice called out. This one was cooler than the others but it seemed arrogant for some reason. "We're not here to argue, we're here to draw out the three Key-Bearers. We know their names we know who they are. We are giving you a chance to save your island. We will return in a short while, but we won't tell you when. It could be tomorrow, could be in a month. Present them to us and this world will be spared, if you don't, you will all die and the bearers will be taken anyway."

This last comment caused a massive uproar amongst the crowd but the voices weren't done.

"Remember: Fear Us. Fear Immortality." The third voice spoke and then silence followed.

As the faculty tried to ring everything under control, Sora looked to Riku and Kairi. They both had a worried look in their eyes. Suddenly the journey didn't look so pleasing to Sora.

**KHKHKH**

Following the remaining of the chaotic graduation ceremony, Sora, Riku and Kairi headed off to Riku's house, one of the few places they could talk about what just happened with the voices.

"Guys, all I know is that when voices start talking from the sky, bad things will happen." Sora said to his friends while sitting at the kitchen table. Riku's mom was in the other room but she knew of what was happening considering the Keyblades.

"That's kind of obvious." Riku said. He sighed loudly. "This could be bad."

"Well what do we know?" Kairi asked, trying to remain the calmest of the three. "We know they want the Keyblade Masters."

"Everyone wants the Keyblade Masters, that or the Princesses of Heart." Riku quickly said.

"But we don't know why they want us." Sora put in.

"But, what is there angle?" Kairi asked. "They said they knew who we were but were giving the islands a chance to save themselves. It really makes you wonder."

"And they seem pretty strong." Riku said.

"I know." Sora added. "Did you see what that one guy did? One energy blast and half the stage was gone."

"To me, it doesn't matter." Riku said with a smirk. "If we beat the Organization then these guys will be no trouble." He drew his Keyblade and made a simple flourish with it.

"Hey if you're going to play with that then come in here and help me cut the salad." Riku's mom called at him from the other room.

"Sorry mom." He said, ashamed. Sora and Kairi chuckled at him.

"Well Riku it maybe true about the Organization, but you never beat any of them." Sora said to his friend

"I beat Roxas."

"After cheating and using the darkness. You also didn't finish him."

"Well what about Lexaues and Zexion? And I also beat Vexen once."

Sora scratched his head. "Who? I never really met any of those guys."

Riku shook his head and sighed loudly. "Remind me to educate you on Castle Oblivion."

"What?"

"Exactly." He chuckled. Sora glared at him and decided to change subjects.

"Obviously it seems that these guys are against us in someway." He lowered his voice, mostly for effect. "We should be careful, especially if they are threatening the island."

"I guess, if they don't show up until after we leave," Kairi also lowered her voice, but to show how serious she was. "We should have one of our parents tell them who we are so they don't threaten the island."

"The life of the hero," Riku said with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. "Sacrificing their own bodies for the good of others. How did you do it Sora?"

"I just did." Sora stood up to leave and then turned to his friends. "I know this will be new to you guys but I know that both of you will do fine, travelling the universe isn't an easy job but it is very rewarding and can be fun at times."

Sora, and then Kairi, left for home. All three knew that the date would come soon enough when they had to leave but it wasn't the waiting that was killing them now. It was the voices. "Fear Us. Fear Immortality." Whoever these people were, it was safe to say that the journey would deliver its share of trials to everyone.

Riku thought for a second about travelling the universe. Sora thought it would be rewarding and fun but he wasn't the one who travelled the worlds kidnapping people and spreading darkness around them. It would be a different experience for the two friends.

**To Be Continued**

I'm trying to set up a regular schedule to update but I got to get a base of chapters first but still, enjoy.

Please Review

SirAngelo


	4. In Business

_A puff of smoke hits the stage and out steps a man with medium length brown hair wearing a tux. This is SirAngelo._

_Angelo: Good evening… that was my Alfred Hitchcock. I am SirAngelo, the author of Genesis of Destiny. I have decided to appear for you tonight so you get an idea of who I am and what I represent._

_Another man, this one in a red trench coat with long black hair with two white stripes, appears in a flash behind Angelo._

_??: He's an idiot and he represents idiocy._

_Angelo: Ladies and gentleman, this thing to my left is Rhapsody AKA Cage._

_Cage: 'Sup._

_Angelo: Cage is an online avatar representing my inner feelings and desires. In short, he's a creature never meant to exist._

_Cage: Ouch._

_Angelo: So Cage… how's life going for you. Y'know, being a creature God never meant to exist._

_Cage: Well between the scientists trying to dissect me to see if I'm the next link in the evolutionary chain, the psychologists arguing if I am an imaginative being and the religious zealots trying to burn me at the stake… it's okay._

_Angelo: Huh…enjoy you're read! PS: I own nothing…well this chapter is a major exception to the rule but you get the idea._

Chapter 4: In Business

It was a lazy day in Twilight Town for the two professional Heartless hunters. But, then again, everyday had been a lazy day since they moved to Twilight Town three months ago. They sat in their rented office, lounging around with nothing better to do.

Both of them, the man and woman, didn't look a day over twenty. The woman had short cut and cropped auburn hair and emerald eyes. The man's hair was long and spiky, with an odd silvery-blue colour while his eyes were grey-green. They both wore black pants and a black shirt. These were Rain and Claudio.

Claudio was sitting at his desk, leaning back on his chair and strumming idly on an acoustic guitar. Rain sat in the corner reading an old, leather-bound book that was falling apart. Both were sitting around, minding their own business, when the phone rang.

Out of instinct, Claudio slammed his fist on the desk, causing the phone to rise into the air, which he promptly caught. "Hello." He answered; his accent had a very minor tinge of Welsh, Australian and cockney British. "Black Butterfly Heartless Hunters. This is Claudio speaking. How may I assist you today?" He listened for a few seconds.

"Yes sir, this is a legitimate business." He stifled a groan and rolled his eyes. "No sir, this is not a joke."

He continued to listen, nodding impatiently as Rain stifled a laugh. "Excuse me sir, but do you have a Heartless you need to take care of? No? Then go to hell!" He slammed the phone on the receiver and sat up in frustration. "Lord almighty, that's the fifth time this month someone's asked if we're a joke business!" He massaged his temples. "Why'd we ever move here?"

"Well if I recall." Rain answered in her calm, quiet voice. "You said we had sucked Traverse Town dry and had to move on."

He snorted. "I'd never say that in my life! I love Traverse Town!" Claudio walked over to a coffee can sitting at the edge of his desk.

"Rain love, how much is left I the petty cash? I was thinkin' of buying us some lunch."

She smiled slightly. "There's enough for half a lunch…for one of us."

"Well, I know what I have to do." Claudio began to walk to the door but Rain got up and stopped him. "What're you doing love?"

"I know what you're planning. I thought we gave up that life." Claudio smiled and clasped her hand. "No stealing."

"C'mon. If we don't we'll starve." She stared at him. "I won't steal that much, just enough to last us two weeks. We should have a few jobs by then."

She sighed loudly and moved aside. "Okay, just don't get caught." He smiled as if to say, "Never do".

"Just keep the door open for me." She obliged and in a second, Claudio sped off in a black blur.

Within five minutes another black blur zoomed into the room and so did Claudio now with a backpack and four plastic bags filled with food. "That was rather easy." He swaggered over to her and tossed her a bottle of juice.

Claudio relaxed into his chair and opened his mouth. Rain cut him off, almost reading his mind, "We got no calls." Claudio grumbled silently and took out some bread and cold cuts and started making himself a sandwich.

He took a bite into it and then started to shift his gaze around the room until he noticed something out of place. Quick as a flash, he drew a pistol from his belt and aimed it behind him. "You can come out now." He didn't even bother to turn around to aim. "Both of you."

"Wow." Someone remarked, confirming Claudio's suspicions. "Good reflexes, good intuition. I definitely picked a ringer this time, don't you think. Your Highness?"

"Highness?" Claudio repeated. "In that case I'm going to have to turn around and face you two myself." He did so and saw two strangers walking out of the shadows.

The first figure was a tall man with long, spike hair like Claudio's only brown. He wore a sleeveless sweater like Rain as well as an arm cape over his left arm, gloves, boots and a weird pair of "skirt-pants"; similar to a set of Japanese hakama.

The second person was shorter…much shorter. About three or four feet in fact! He wore a simple black cloak but had a large mouse-like head with big, round ears.

"I can't believe it." Rain chuckled from her corner. "You aimed your gun at King Mickey Mouse of Disney." Rain stood up and bowed in the direction of The King.

Claudio cleared his throat and murmured a threat under his breath. "I'm sorry your Majesty." He bowed as well. "And, well, a name would be nice." He motioned to the tall man.

"It's Terra." He said brusquely.

"Well then Terra." He still had his pistol in his hand, aimed at Terra. "How did you get in here and why are you here?"

"I will answer those two questions." He made a reach for Claudio's sandwich now on his desk. "But I don't take kind to people pointing guns at me."

Claudio pulled the hammer back. "I don't take kind to people trying to grab a bite from my lunch." Terra pulled back, eyeing the gun. It was a revolver with an extremely long barrel. The chamber was also extremely large, more than twice as large as a normal revolver chamber.

As soon as Terra put a safe distance between the sandwich, Claudio stashed his gun.

"Now, as to how we got in here." Terra said calmly. "We snuck in while the door was open."

Claudio shot a look at Rain. "Hey, I didn't notice them. If I did, I would be the one threatening a King with a weapon." She smiled innocently and Claudio furrowed his eyebrows.

"We didn't use the door." The King was the one who explained things this time. "We were able to teleport into the room."

"Which, coincidently, was at the same time as when the door was open." Terra smiled. "So, how much Munny was that stuff worth?"

"You have another question to answer before you start asking 'em." Claudio leaned back in his chair was again.

"Well to answer this question we need ask a question." The King cut Terra off.

"Have you two heard of the Keyblade Master?" Claudio cocked an eyebrow.

"We're world hoppers. Of course we've heard of him." He smiled again. "Short kid, spiky brown hair, large blue eyes, travels around with a duck and a dog."

"Donald Duck and Goofy." Mickey explained. "My Court Wizard and the Captain of the Royal Knights."

"Yes, well, what we need you two for is a lot to ask for." Terra stopped, almost hesitating. "We know that soon enough the Keyblade Master, and his friends, will be forced on another adventure like his previous two. We need you two to help with this journey."

"And why should we do that?" Claudio's remark was rather abrupt, Rain gasped at his gall. He saw this and continued. "Well, I mean we have a business and saving the universe is all find and dandy but it don't but Munny in the pocket or food on the table."

Terra stifled a laugh. "You call this a business? I call it two people lying around, stealing from honest working people to eat." The silver-haired warrior scowled at Terra.

"Well, your social commentary aside, I think we're done here." He stood up and bowed again. "An honour meeting you, your Majesty. Now both of you leave."

Terra wouldn't budge. "Before you kick us out, I'd like to hear from your better half. Rain."

Both Rain and Claudio were surprised that Terra knew her name. "Well," she stammered. "As much as I think it is honest to help the Keyblade Master, I agree with Claudio. We need jobs, Munny and food."

"I guess we'll have to send those three off without much help after all." The King said in dismay at this fruitless mission.

"Not yet your Majesty. I still have an ace in the hole." Terra walked to Claudio's desk. "Mind if I borrow paper and a pen?"

Claudio begrudgingly handed him the items he wanted and Terra started to scribble something down. "What I am writing has to do with your mission. The first term is what opposes you. The second name will be on your side. I believe you both have history with them." He handed the paper to Claudio.

Both him and Rain looked over the paper and gawked at what was written. "Is this a joke mate?" Claudio asked in amazement. "'Cause if it is, it ain't funny!"

"I assure you this is no joke." Claudio stood up and stared into Terra's eyes. "We are a hundred percent serious when we mention them."

"But…" Rain was also in disbelief at the names. "I thought that she died when…" She then mumbled something under her breath.

"No. She is safe and sound. As for your opposition." The King paced around the room a little bit, mulling on his thought. "I'll let Terra field that one. He knows more of the situation than any of us."

"We don't know their motives but we know that they are more active than ever in their sixty years of existence." Terra's tone had become grimmer in the last few seconds. "I'll let you two decide what to do. We'll be waiting in the hotel, room number 103 for 24 hours." He looked at the clock on the wall. "You have until 1 PM tomorrow. If you come, we'll give you more information on your quest." He began walking to the doors of the building. "Are you coming Your Majesty?"

"Yes." Mickey answered and walked to Terra. "But please, call me Mickey." The two visitors then left the room, leaving only silence.

"So," Rain broke the silence. "What do we do?"

"Only one thing that we can do." Rain had a curious look on her face. "We got to get our crap in order and get our asses in gear if we wanna make that 24 hour deadline."

A surprised smile overtook Rain's face. "I'm surprised Claudio. You're finally starting to act your age."

"Better late than never!" He laughed. "After all, I am 78."

**To Be Continued**

Please review

SirAngelo


	5. Memory of Return, Nightmare of Present

(Cage is on stage, reading a book entitled "Kingdom Hearts: Genesis of Destiny Ultima Fan Guide". He nods every few seconds until Angelo sneaks up behind him)

Angelo: So, what do you think?

Cage: Pretty interesting, but are you really planning to kill…

Angelo: Hey! Hey! Hey! Don't spoil it! And now, to chapter 5… I own nothing!

Chapter 5: Memory of Return, Nightmare of Present

Two nights after the attack at the graduation ceremony, Sora was trying to get to sleep but really he couldn't. Despite the threats, the sneering voices, the display of power, the mysterious entities, he was excited to adventure again. For the first time he would be wandering with his friends, not worrying about where they were or who was doing what to them. Now they would be alongside him. Now they could be together.

Their parents were rather worried considering what happened at the ceremony but they eventually yielded…as long as they met the "rendezvous party" the King was sending. They wanted to know that they could feel safe about their children this time around. Sora knew that he could feel safe about leaving the island, one of the first thing he did when he returned was to seal the keyhole that was hidden in the secret spot.

Thinking about the return sent his mind off on a different train of thought. His mind kept drifting back to the night he had returned to the island. After defeating Xemnas, after reuniting with his friends and after saying farewell to the emissaries from Disney he had another mission to complete. It was hard for him to do but he faced it like the Keyblade Master he was. He returned to his parents.

**KHKHKH**

It was a quarter past seven when Sora entered his old home, the old house that was a few minutes from town, a few minutes from the beach. He knew his parents would have just finished dinner at this time and so he would find them in the living room.

He entered his home, the scent of pinewood, coconut and vanilla washed over him. Old smells. Homey smells. He walked down the familiar halls as if had been doing it yesterday. Peering around the corner of the doorframe, he saw his parents sitting in the living room, relaxing like they always did after a meal. It took him a moment to work up his courage but he finally stepped into the room and cleared his throat.

"Mom." He started, his voice strained with emotion. "Dad. I'm home."

His parents looked up at the voice and saw what they'd been hoping for nearly two years. Standing in front of them was their son. Sora had returned. He was a little taller, his hair a little longer, his voice a little deeper and his clothes a lot stranger bur it was their son.

"S-Sora?" His mother's voice was choked like his, full of emotion. "Is…is that really you?"

"Yeah." He smiled, his eyes watering. "It's me."

His mom ran from her chair and hugged him, embracing her only son. Sora took a lot after his mom. She was skinny and short like her son with the same ocean blue eyes and chocolate brown hair. "I can't believe it." She was sobbing, her face buried into Sora's shoulder. "You're home. We thought that…you were-"

He shushed her softly. "No, don't worry about me. I'm here now."

Sora looked over at his dad. Unlike his mother, Sora was very little alike to his father. He was tall and muscular with dirty blonde hair and green eyes. The one thing he got from him were his trademark hair spikes. But one thing that caught Sora was, for the first time he had ever seen, his dad was crying. And how could he not, it was his son, the only son that he had. A son he thought he'd lost.

"What happened to you?" His father asked.

Sora let go of his mother and faced his father. "That, that's a long and very complicated story, I think you two should sit down."

They would've, if the phone hadn't ringed.

Sora's mom picked it up. "Hello," she answered through the tears covering her face. "Eira, what's wrong, why are you – What? Riku? He's back! So is Sora! I can't believe it!"

Sora felt rather forgotten now that his mom was talking to Eve, Riku's mother. "Um… mom?" His dad touched him on his shoulder.

"I think we better wait this one out son." He smiled, despite the tears. "We can wait for you story."

But they had to wait longer than expected. After the mothers began talking they found out that Kairi was also home and so it was decided the three families would get together so the children could explain the story together. Maybe it wasn't the best decision, considering that Sora and Riku had just faced the gauntlet fighting Xemnas but they soon were reminded that arguing with their parents was futile. It was a quarter to eight by the time everyone gathered at Sora's place.

In addition to Sora's parents and Eira, Riku's mother, a petite woman with the same white hair as her son, Kairi's parents had arrived with her and her older half-sister. Her mother was a tall woman with long brown hair and the same sweet disposition as he adopted daughter. Her husband was as tall as her with short black hair, a small beard and eyes that always seemed cruel to Sora. Kairi's sister looked like a younger version of her mother, except with her father's raven hair and hard eyes. The group of six sat opposite to the three teenagers, a table between them. Sora had put his copy of Jimminy's Journal on it for any side stories they wanted.

"Now," Sora began hesitantly. He had six pairs of eyes trained on him. Some with intent of what he'd been through, others looking for a reason to get him trouble. "The beginning happened the night that storm came to the island. We, the three of us, had built a raft to find new worlds but then said storm came. The storm was actually caused by beings called Heartless, which are created when a heart falls to darkness. They go around the worlds, sinking both hearts and worlds into darkness. During this time Riku had excepted the darkness into his heart." He looked warily to his friend and then continued. "He thought it would lead to new worlds but this had major consequences."

Riku took up the story now. "I was chosen to wield an artefact called the Keyblade, a weapon that is meant to fight the darkness in the world. But by letting darkness rule me, I pushed the weapon from me, to Sora, who became its chosen wielder."

Sora then continued. "When I found Kairi, she had already fallen to the darkness but when she did her body vanished but her heart stayed within me. The islands were then destroyed completely and I woke up in a place called Traverse Town."

"Wait a minute!" Kairi's father spoke out in his gruff voice. "If the Islands were destroyed then why are we here now? And why don't we remember any of this? I want an explanation!"

"I think they were about to give one Aiden." His wife softly chided. "Go on Sora."

"Later on we, I mean myself and two members from Disney Castles, another world, restored all the worlds fallen to the Heartless. I think you don't remember the destruction because of some safeguard designed by the worlds." Aaron seemed satisfied by the answer and Sora then continued.

He talked about wandering Traverse Town, meeting Leon and Donald and Goofy. He talked about travelling the worlds, sealing the keyholes and talking about all the people he had met. They especially enjoyed his stories involving Jack Skellington and the Gang from Traverse Town. Eventually he got to the story of Neverland, seeing Kairi and Riku again, learning to fly with help from Peter Pan and Tinkerbell and Riku's descent into darkness.

When Sora reached Hollow Bastion, Riku could feel his neck get hot with all the stories. Riku taking the Keyblade and Sora's friends, him losing the Keyblade because of his darkness and his very un-triumphant fall into the darkness that was Xehanort's Heartless. Sora continued about how he defeated Riku/Xehanort and sacrificed himself to free Kairi's heart. Riku spoke of how he defended them from Xehanort before being cast into the darkness. Kairi told how she rescued Sora from the darkness, turning him from a Heartless back to a complete being.

Sora then wrapped up the story with the sealing of Hollow Bastion's Keyhole and the defeat of Xehanort's Heartless.

"When we sealed the door, I had a choice. Return home with Kairi or find Riku. I wanted my friends back so I stayed to find Riku and the King who were sealed on the other side of the Dark Door…" He paused.

"Well," Kairi's sister asked excitedly. "What happened then?" Sora kept pondering.

"Come on Sora." Kairi said. "I think Erica is going to start bouncing off the walls if you can't wrap this up."

"You know what." Sora saw everyone except Riku on the edge of their seats. "I really can't remember." A collective groan sounded. "I think I remember a really big white castle but I think I might have dreamt it."

"I'll fill this in, okay Sora." Riku saw his friend nod and took up the story. "The place Sora entered was Castle Oblivion. There, the Organization, as previously mentioned in our little preface, were performing experiments on memory. It was held by Marluxia, the Organization's Number 11 who was followed by Axel, Larxene, their number 12, and Vexen, their number 4. Lexaues and Zexion, their number 5 and 6 respectively, held the basement, where I wound up." This befuddled sora but Riku pressed onward. "Marluxia and Larxene tried used Namine to turn you into a puppet that they could use in a coup to take over the Organization but Axel was working as a double agent and betrayed them before you defeated Marluxia.

"In the meantime, I was travelling the basement with DiZ and the King trying to quell the darkness within me, which turned out to be a successful venture. Now, in order to restore the memories that Sora lost upon entering the Castle he had to go to sleep for nearly a year and forget the experience from the Castle."

Sora then picked it up from where Riku left off. Explaining the time he woke up, travelling the worlds once again, and explaining more about the Nobodies. He spent a fair amount of time talking about Captain Jack Sparrow and the time he went to Christmas Town. During this, Riku and Kairi filled in their parts of the story including the revelation of Kairi's true lineage.

"So, you know now." Kairi's mother, Jeanne, said softly. The story stopped for the moment as she looked into Kairi's eyes. "Can you forgive us for the lie?"

"You may not be my birth parents, but you raised me as your own after my home fell." She returned the look to her mother, then looking at her sister and father. "You are, and always will be, my family." She hugged her mother and then broke away. "But, one thing has always bugged me. How exactly did I come here?"

Her father answered. "During the meteor shower, a rogue in armour showed up at our doorstep and left you here with us without a word or anything." Sora's father cocked an eyebrow at this but nothing else came of it.

Sora then continued, he was at the part of when they stormed the World That Never Was and their confrontation with the Organization XIII. He explained the truth about his and Kairi's Nobodies, Roxas and Namine and Riku's wallowing in the darkness once again. This all culminated with the final battle against Xemnas just hours ago.

Sora took the time to collect his breath and then looked to the astonished group he had told the story to. "So, that is our story."

His mother was the first to break the shock. "Well Sora, Kairi, Riku, that was definitely a very…amazing tale and explains a lot but despite all three of you, despite this journal in front of us, it just seems too…fantastic!"

"Well, we do have something to prove all of this ma'am." Riku looked to his friends and then silently counted to three.

In a series of white flashes, Sora summoned the Ultima Weapon, Riku called Way to the Dawn and Kairi brought out her new Keyblade, which she had dubbed Blooming Radiance. "These are the Keyblades." Riku explained. Everyone looked like they were about to fall out of their seats, except again for Sora's father, but, again, nothing came of it.

"But…but…" Kairi's father was at a lost of words.

"Yes dad, it means that we are the protectors of the world. That all those tales of danger and adventure were true." Sora then stood up next to Kairi.

"But," He looked at everyone in the room slowly and smiled. "This time, we're home, and home to stay."

**KHKHKH**

During this memory, Sora had begun to drift asleep. Knowing that this was his chance to end his restless night, he let his dream carry him off into his mind, his realm, where what he wanted came true…most of the time. The other times his mind would warp his thoughts into prophetic dreams.

Tonight was one of the latter.

He stood on the platform he stood upon at the beginning of the journey, his 'awakening' platform. He stood in the center and around him, placed in circles, were the faces of Kairi, Riku, Goofy, Donald, The King, and now with the inclusions of Roxas and Namine. His outer ring was composed of the crowns from his necklace. Blackness surrounded the stain glass pedestal but he saw that he was not alone on his platform.

Off on the other side was a man enwrapped in tattered robes, cloaks and other pieces of misplaced and dishevelled clothes. He was at a height with Sora and had his arms folded over his chest. He looked at Sora directly and tilted his head upward to the sky. Sora followed and saw a weak beam of lights shining down from the black void above him. The single shaft was growing at a very tiny, he noticed.

The stranger walked towards Sora. Out of instinct, he tried summoning the Keyblade but nothing came to him. He could see the face of the stranger was hooded and wrapped in bandages. Sora eyed him warily as he came face to face with him; the man was actually taller than Sora.

"Don't worry Sora." The stranger seemed to make no inclination to harm so Sora dropped his guard but was still rather wary. "I won't harm you. This is your dream. I am simply here to offer you a warning of the future."

"What warning?" Sora demanded. "Does this have to do with the quest King Mickey is sending us on?" The figure chuckled softly.

"No. Well, this quest will lead you to what I am speaking of." The figure tilted his head up again; the light ray no covered the entire pedestal in a slip of light. "What I speak of is war." Sora's eyes grew wide with shock and a need to know. "Yes, war. A great war will be set upon this realm, as foretold a long time ago." Sora was about to ask a question but the figure seemed to know this was on his mind. "This prophecy was foretold back when the Keyblade was wielded for the first time but I am not aloud to tell you as of yet.

"The Keyblade is a weapon of great power and although now only four people can wield it, many eons ago there were entire nations of Keyblade Masters. Hundreds upon thousands of warriors who fought with the blade of legends, defending what was good from what was evil. Fighting for light, darkness, twilight, nothingness or anything else they thought worthy." He faced Sora again. "Then the Keyblade fell away from the greedy hearts of man and the wicked preyed on them for many ages. The Keyblade would reappear when they truly needed it but it was only a minor number when compared to the past. The time for many wielders to rise up again has come. This is your charge Sora, as the True Keyblade Master of Destiny."

"Master of Destiny?" Sora felt lost by the words of the mysterious fellow. "I thought I was Master of Light." The figure shook his head.

"No, the wielder of light is still hidden. As the One of Destiny you can gain the collective strength of all Keyblade Masters through enough training." The figure walked away slowly. "Now, to see the faces you will lead into war."

Darkness covered all but Sora. The ray of light, the pedestal, the figure, all gone in a flash of blackness leaving Sora to face a strange blue portal that shimmered as he wondered what it was. The portal shimmered wildly and soon he began seeing faces.

All the faces were new to him but he studied them carefully as they flew by him. There a man with a cocky smirk on his face, and long, spiky silvery-blue hair, a boy with golden blonde hair tied in a short ponytail, and a teenager with short, orange spiky hair. Next came a young man with a narrow face and shaggy dark blue hair, and a dour man wearing a dun cowboy hat. Finally came two girls, one with dark brown hair and a thin smile and the other was an Asiatic-looking woman with black hair done up in a bun on the back of her head.

He then saw faces familiar to him, Riku, Kairi, The King, Roxas, Namine and finally himself. He had no idea as to what this all meant but he soon found himself on his pedestal, facing the figure once more. "What does this all mean?" Sora asked him instantly.

"Sorry. Can't tell. But all these people, and more, you will meet in the coming time. That's all I can say." Sora hung his head in dismay. "But, I'll let you ask one thing of me before I go."

Sora thought for a moment and then he came to the question he wanted. "Take off your hood and bandages."

The person did as he was bid but only to reveal a helmet designed like a sunburst. "Should have told me to show my face. Sorry." He shrugged and Sora hung his head in dismay again. "Now, wake up. Kairi's in danger."

Sora did just that.

KHKHKH

He woke from his dream, only an hour had past but it seemed longer. He looked around and felt a pang in his heart suddenly. Kairi really was in danger.

He reached over to his phone and pressed number 3 on the speed-dial.

"Riku? Yeah, I know what time it is." It was 1:30 in the morning. "Listen, I had a dream. I think Kairi is in danger. Meet me halfway between our homes. I think she's on the north beach of this island. Hurry, now!"

**KHKHKH**

Now, as for the aforementioned Princess of Light, Kairi wasn't getting a good night of sleep. She was tossing a turning and throwing off all her blankets in a heap. She softly moaned in pain and was covered in a cold sweat. Every urge her body had told her to wake up but it just wouldn't, she continued her dream. In actuality it was a nightmare but discerning the two while you have them is a major task.

She stood on a cliff face, overlooking a town and a castle. Everything around her was burning. Burning and covered in squirming shadows. Ash and smoke choked the air but she didn't breath it. Heat carved a swath of destruction throughout the town buts he couldn't feel it. Heartless marched in order around her but they failed to notice her and vice-versa.

Some mysterious presence forced her to wander the smouldering wreckage, looking for something. As she wandered into town she heard people cry out in agony and horror.

"Save me Your Majesty!"

"Why have you all forsaken us?"

"Please, mercy!"

"Help! Help! HELP!"

Kairi covered her ears and nearly began to pull her hair out from her head at the sound. It was painful. Not just the cries but also the meanings of them. She knew what this place was. It was the Radiant Garden, she knew from pictures she saw in the Journal. The people cried for their royalty to save them and she technically was their royalty. Whether this was the future, the past or just a nightmare, she didn't know but it was painful no matter what it was.

She stumbled blindly and in pain, passing flames, Heartless and dieing people as much as she tried to avoid them. As she continued she saw that everything started to die, turn black and devoid of all life. Everything had vanished but her, the wrecked buildings and a new, shrouded figure in the distance.

"Come Kairi," The figure heeded, "Come and join with your family. Your legacy."

Then, everything went truly black.

**KHKHKH**

Somehow, during this night terror, Kairi had begun sleepwalking. She wandered in what seemed like an aimless and zombified state, eyes barely flitting open. She could feel the sand between her toes and the wind rustling her hair and nightgown but she seemed completely unaware of most everything. She stumbled out of the foliage onto the shoreline and once again saw the figure from her dream.

He wore a ratty black cloak over a clean, pure white cloak and a solid black mask with two white orbs in it forming eyes for the man. He stretched his arm out as if to bid her to come to her.

"That's it Kairi." The man said, his voice was harsh, cool and seemed devoid of sanity. "Good girl. Come, I promise you no more pain."

She was not even aware as to what was happening.

By the time she reached him, the man had drawn a sword and Kairi had collapsed into his arms. "Don't fear the darkness." He cooed as he cradled her in his arms. "It is your legacy, Princess." He stood her straight up and then drove his blade into her gut.

Her trance was broken immediately and then she passed out from the pain. Darkness seeped into her body from the cold, steel sword. "Now, to leave this retched place."

"Kairi!"

Two kids, one with spiky brown hair and blue eyes, the other with long silver hair and aquamarine eyes stood at the edge of forest and shore, Keyblades drawn and bared.

Sora and Riku darted to the warrior of darkness. Riku stuck his palm out and concentrated a compact orb of dark energy into it. "Dark Firaga!" The black fireball blasted to the stranger and hit upon impact. Dark hellfire licked up his cloak but soon extinguished itself, absorbed into his body.

"What the?" Riku stopped, astonished by what had happened but Sora bowled on, full steam.

The man stepped away from Kairi and blocked Sora's downward slash with his sword. He continued a series of quick swipes, all blocked by the masked warrior. He leapt away and concentrated the darkness into his fist and launched the darkness dart at Sora.

"Reflega!" The translucent dome covered Sora and the dart bounced back at the man, he deftly blocked it with his sword but Sora was ready. "Blizzaga!" The ice crystals streaked from the Ultima Weapon's head and collided with the warrior, freezing the left side of his chest.

"Foolish boy," The warrior was unfazed by the ice attack. "You interrupted my precious reunion with Her Grace."

Riku's eyes went wide as he heard the masked warrior speak. "You! That voice from the other day! You're Kira!"

The figure shook his head to confirm it. "I'm glad you remember." Kira mocked the Keybearers. "Now, remember my associate's words: Fear Us. Fear Immortality." And as fast he came, Kira vanished in some kind of dimensional warp.

Sora ran to the prone Kairi and looked at her. Her nightgown was torn were she was stabbed but there was no wound, no cut, no hole. Nothing. Just a weird feeling that the encounter with Kira was only the tip of the iceberg.

"How is she?" Riku had loped beside his friend.

"No injury but," He stopped and thought for a second. "I don't know, I have a really weird feeling about this all.

The two boys then slung Kairi's arms over their shoulders and headed back home, trying to forget this eerie encounter.

**To Be Continued**

Cool, so longest chapter so far but I think it sets up a few things. Also, the people shown to Sora in his dream are all OC's except for the last two nameless faces.

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	6. The Rolling Barrage ACT 1

_Angelo: 'Kay, considering that I am planning for GOD to branch into sequels I have been thinking of what worlds I should add excluding Disney and Final Fantasy worlds. Anything from video-games and novels to anime and manga, just give me a PM or a review if you have an idea._

_Kairi: Maybe you should focus on this story before planning sequels!_

_Angelo: Maybe I should have Kira stab you again and put you back in a coma! Kira!  
_

_(Kira walks on stage, sword drawn, and Kairi runs.)_

_Angelo: No! The disclaimer, not the stabby part!_

_Kira: Angelo owns nothing but plot and OC's. He has no ownership over anything from Square-Enix, Disney, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and anything else that'll show up._

Chapter 6: The Rolling Barrage ACT 1

It was a rather sleepy summer afternoon on the Destiny Island. People were sitting around; doing nothing really, it was too blazing hot. A bus had just rolled in from the ferry port that had ferries transport people from the northern archipelego to this island, the main island of Delnas, which housed the island's capitol city. People filed out of the bus, returning to the small town outside the capital from visiting relatives or business but two passengers were different from the normal group that used the transit.

The first was a short woman with short-cropped auburn hair and emerald eyes. She wore a black sleeveless sweater/shirt and black cargo pants with black boots. She carried a duffle bag and had a backpack slung over her left shoulder. Overall she was rather normal.

As normal as she was, her partner was the exact opposite. He wore black leather-like pants and black military boots and his belt had a large silver demon skull for a buckle. His shirt was made of the same material as his pants with a zipper running up its length and trimmed at the edges with white. His coat though, was the flashiest thing you could possibly see. A large silver trench coat with a black swallowtail butterfly embossed on the back. The coattails were so long they dragged below his total six foot four height. He had long spiky silver-blue hair, grey green eyes and sunglasses with red lenses. He carried a backpack, a duffle bag and a guitar case.

When he stepped off the bus, nearly everyone in the line of sight of the bus turned to him and started to remark on the strange man. "A silver coat, talk about flashy." And, "Who are these people, talk about weirdoes." Were audible from the crowd. Claudio was about to correct their perception when he heard a mechanical noise and a _shoosh_.

He looked behind and his coattails were caught in the door. He tugged at them but to no avail. The bus began to move off and Claudio had no choice but to run with it.

"Wow, a full backwards run." One observer remarked before another called out: "Hey bus driver! You have an idiot stuck to your door!"

One bus stop and some yelling later and Claudio was wiping the dust off his coattails and walking back to where Rain was.

"And that, Rain love, is why I hate public transit." He groaned to her and she simply smiled. "Well, enough fooling around. Let's find the Keybearer." He began to walk off again but she stuck an arm out.

Rain had closed her eyes in silence and seemed to be concentrating. This was one of her powers, being able to sense energy signatures of different life forms near her. After a few minutes she opened her eyes and simply said, "We need to go to another island."

Claudio groaned again. "Do we have to take another bus?" She laughed.

"No," A smile etched its way across Claudio's face. "But we do need a rowboat." She began walking in the direction the island was. "We better get moving."

Claudio stopped her as he placed an arm on her shoulder. Pulling her around and into his arms, she smiled as Claudio looked into her eyes. "God your beautiful." He planted a kiss on her, almost bending to one knee to reach her height.

She blushed, a rare sight for Rain. "Why'd you do that?"

"I don't know," He admitted to his love, still holding her as they walked. "It's just that…I don't know what will happen on this journey, so I think everyday should count for us." He spun away from her to face her front. "Who knows? Maybe we might get lucky."

She smiled again but it pained her to do so. "That's just what you said before Caleb."

Claudio nodded and then the two lovers walked towards the shore, off to meet the Keybearer for their little romp around the galaxy at Terra's behest.

**KHKHKH**

Sora, Kairi and Riku were following suit of the townspeople, just lazing about on the beach of their island. But this wasn't the laziness were their was nothing to do. This laziness was one of unknown and fear, were you really didn't know what to do or what was happening.

This was caused after Kairi had woken from her attack two days ago. She had woken up with no pain, no mark, no wound, only grogginess of a two-day sleep and the memory to show for her terrifying experience. She had become distant and withdrawn after the event but tried to play it off as if nothing had happened.

The truly chilling thing about this was that the attacker was the second voice from the graduation ceremony. Kira was what the first voice had called him. Kira had matched blades with Sora, shrugged off a close-range Blizzaga shotgun and was hit full on by a Dark Firaga shot but showed no sign he was even hit. If he was the enemy, they all definitely had their work cut out for them.

"Sora," Kairi asked timidly. He inclined his head upwards. "Do you know exactly what happened at the fall of the Radiant Garden? You know, when it became Hollow Bastion."

"Well, from what Leon told me," He placed his hand on his chin, thinking back to his first journey. "Maleficent attacked and the Heartless were so strong the world was overran. Why do you ask?"

She turned away. "No reason." She lied. Kairi hadn't told the two about her dream of wandering around the dismantled Garden while people called out for her to help.

Riku sighed loudly. "Okay, I know we are all beating around the bush as to what happened with that Kira guy!" Anger and regret filled his voice. "He attacked Kairi even if there is no wound and God knows what he would have done if Sora and I hadn't came at the time." He stood up from the sand and began to pace back a forth, still talking. "And even when we came, he treated us like nothing. I honestly think he didn't need to leave, he could have killed all three of use right there if he wanted to!"

"Riku…" Kairi said in a small voice, but he continued.

"And I looked into his heart before he left too." He had stopped pacing but his voice was still filled with anger. "I can do that now and when I looked into it, it scared me! He had more darkness in him than Maleficent and Xehanort's Heartless combined." He crashed to the sand loudly, shaking his head in despair.

"You shouldn't feel sad about this," Kairi still had her small voice. "Just because it was my fault that you had to see his power."

"Don't say that!" Sora chided as softly as he could.

"But it's true. Every time the enemy confronts me, I end up in trouble and then you two have come save me!" She was moved near to tears, Riku was near emotional wreckage and Sora simply sighed.

"Guess we all have our problems." He half-said, half-muttered.

"What's yours?" Riku asked, trying to keep his head out of the darkness.

"You…you don't want to know." Sora had also not told his friends about his dream involving the platform, the knight and the visions.

"We all got problems in life mate," A new voice, a strange voice, said to the three friends. "What matters is how we solve them."

The three lifted themselves off the beach in defence to see a tall man with silvery-blue hair and a silver coat and a small woman with short cut auburn hair.

'_It's that guy.'_ Sora thought. _'That one from the dream.'_

The man pointed a finger at the three. "Any of you kids named Sora?"

"I am." Sora pointed at himself and saw the man form a sly smile on his face.

"Perfect." He tilted his head and removed his pair of red sunglasses. "First time and I find him. How do you like that Rain?"

The woman stood by and showed near no emotion. "Stop bragging and tell them."

He clicked his tongue in disapproval. "Now, now Rain. Why spoil the fun?" He handed her his glasses and his jacket, showing his belt with the large demonic buckle. A gun hung from his left hip. He dropped his duffle bag and backpack and unzipped his guitar case. He lightly lifted it into the air and then kicked it sky-high, sending it spiralling through the summer sky.

Out of the case came not a guitar but a sword. It was nearly six feet long and Sora thought it looked familiar to the sword of a certain undead one-armed Ronin. He gripped it in one hand and began to rev a trigger at the top of the hilt. Sora heard some kind of engine roaring like a motorbike, he thought it came from the blade. He cut the air with the sword and a small vortex overtook the air, nearly knocking the three off balance.

"Now," He smiled slyly again. "Time to fight!" Darting over to Sora faster than a human should be able to, he moved his blade in a deliberate manner so Sora could block it with the Keyblade.

"Sora!" Kairi called. Riku summoned Way to the Dawn and the two began to run but the woman teleported in front of them, arms out to the side and shaking her head.

Meanwhile, the man was raining down fast and strong slashes at Sora. Every time the blades collided sparks flew and when the strangers blade rebounded, he revved the sword even more. Sora could feel a vibration coming from the blade's edge anytime he blocked one of his quick, yet predictable slashes but the force that the vibrations added were enough to keep him from gaining solid footing on the soft sand.

Sora parried an overhead slash and quickly kicked the man in the gut, using his momentum to slide away. He stuck his Keyblade out and then concentrated energy at his tip, feeling the temperature of the blade rising. "Firaga!" A ball of fire launched from the key head and zoomed to the assailant.

He smirked. "Waterga!" An orb of water shot from his hand, hit the fireball and they turned to steam on impact.

Sora looked in shock at his enemy. "You can use magic?" The foe charged Sora but he again dodged away from the attack. He raised his Keyblade above him and focused his energies again. "Thundaga!"

The warriors crossed his arms, apparently unimpressed. "I'm getting bored of this game. Shell." A green hue surrounded him and the bolt of lighting that Sora summoned seemed to have no effect on him.

Pulling the gun from his holster, he took aim at the Keyblade Master and opened fire. The gun was revolver with a much longer barrel and chamber. The gun had a longer range than any conventional firearm and could hold eighteen bullets in its chamber. This was Low Cut.

Sora first dodged the bullets shot at his feet and then deflected any shot to his body with the Keyblade. His enemy had used seven bullets and all had been wasted. But he still smiled.

He charged again and Sora answered the charge, matching every strike blow-for-blow. He tried to go on the offence but any attempt was quickly quelled by the foes superior swordsmanship. Sora knew magic would be near ineffective as he could counter his spells with spells of his own and running would end badly because he had his gun.

Sora tightened the grip on his Keyblade and both men attacked at the same time. Red sparks rained on both enemies but Sora maintained his ground. He pushed his enemy away and his foe swung his blade to his side. He landed gracefully and pointed his left arm at Sora; a beam of golden energy darted from it and barely missed Sora.

"I thought you were getting tired of magic?" Sora asked in defence, trying to anger his foe.

"This ain't magic." The taunt didn't work. "Its harnessed energy." He fired a few more energy bolts at Sora but he started to strafe around his enemy quickly and tried to attack him from behind.

"Nice move." The enemy smiled, his eyes trained on Sora. "Now, for the final task."

He hefted his sword over his shoulder and revved it a few times. The blade crackled with energy and he then slashed the air while declaring his attack. "Prism Chain Arts, Striking Style: Sword Pressure!"

The blade released a yellow blade-beam of energy. Sora dodged rolled out of the way as the beam cut through the ocean before fizzling out. The man dashed to the down Sora and placed the tip of his sword under Sora's chin, smiling in victory…

But only for that second, because behind the warrior a large, demonic shadow rose from the ground grasping the warrior in hands as big as frying pans.

"What the bloody hell?" He shouted in shock as the shadow lifted him and tossed him out to sea. Riku smiled in accomplishment, he had never been able to summon the Guardian for that long.

Screaming in mid-air, the would-be assailant threw his sword, impaling it on a nearby palm tree; he then tossed his belt with the gun in the holster so it hung on the blade. "RAIN!" He shouted in panic. "LITTLE ASSISTANCE!"

The small woman teleported away from Kairi and Riku and appeared in mid-air, catching the warrior and then teleporting back to the sands, the warrior breathing heavily as the small woman patted him on the back.

"Smooth Claudio," She laughed. "You go out to test that kid and almost end up taking a swim."

"Well excuse me Rain!" The warrior retorted in indignation. "I never realized the white haired one could turn his shadow in a friggin' Heartless! Stupid Terra. If I get my hands on that knight…"

"Wait, knight!" Sora cut in, interested as to why these two were here. "Who are you two and why are you here? Why did you attack me?"

The woman spoke up. "My name is Rain." She answered in a soft voice. "And my brash and cocky partner is Claudio."

"And I attacked you simply because I wanted to see if you were all you were cracked up to be, great Keyblade Master. Now, before we answer your other questions." Claudio said, rising from the sand. "Could you share some introductions? But not you oh, mighty Keyblade Master Sora."

The white haired boy answered first. "My name is Riku." He eyed them suspiciously.

"And I'm Kairi." The girl said quietly.

"Kairi?" Claudio repeated, eyeing her carefully. _'Red hair, blue eyes, looks to be the right age. Kairi?'_ He stared off into space before asking. "Excuse me miss, but were you born on the Radiant Garden?"

"Um, yes." She hesitated slightly. Something instantly went off in Claudio and Rain's heads.

The two turned around to face each other and began to whisper to each other. "No way is that the Princess!" Rain argued.

"I think it is. Right age, Terra said she was alive…"

"But, there's no way she could have survived!"

"Just look at her Rain! She's a spitting image of that sweet little child from so long ago!"

Rain took another look at the confused girl and turned back to Claudio. "My God you right! All this time she was here!"

Kairi had taken about as much weirdness as she could. "Could you two tell me what is going on?"

The two shot straight up and turned to Kairi with big, wide eyes. The leapt towards her and then knelt before her feet.

"We're so sorry Princess, we, didn't know that it was you. Please forgive us, Your Grace." The two said in unison as Kairi, Riku and Sora looked on in shock and with weird looks.

"What are you guys talking about? Why are you bowing?" Kairi inched herself away from Rain and Claudio's downed faces.

"Well," Claudio began, rising his head from the sand. "You are Kairi of The Radiant Garden, correct?" She nodded slowly. "Then that makes you Princess Kairi, our liege." He stood up just to bow at her.

"What? No!" Kairi said in a little bit of shock. "You don't have to bow for me or beg my apologies or call me Your Grace or any of that stuff."

Rain raised an eyebrow. "Really? Why Your – uh, Kairi."

"Because, I haven't been a Princess for a decade and even then I can't remember much of it."

Claudio, who was now slinging all the gear he had taken off for the fight back on his body, spoke up. "We're sorry, old habits die fast and we are just so happy to see you're okay."

"Old habits?" Sora asked, standing next to Kairi now, facing Claudio and Rain.

"Yes, me and Rain used to serve as personal bodyguards to Miss Kairi and her family before the fall." The others looked at the two strangers in shock.

"You served for my family? My real family?" Rain and Claudio nodded. "Please, tell me about them."

"And, while you are at it you can tell us exactly why you are here." Riku said gruffly, still eyeing the two strangers.

"Well we would do that but-" Claudio grabbed his stomach as it let out a loud growl. "First, could we have some food?" Sora nearly fell down at the suddenness of this statement.

"Okay, I'll take you back to my place for some lunch." Sora invited reluctantly.

Claudio raised his arms up in excitement at the prospect of the meal. "Yay, yay, food, food. Yay, food." He began to sing and jovially marched off the beach.

Sora and Riku stared blankly at the eccentric blue-haired warrior walking away from everyone else.

"This guy…" Riku began. "What's up with him?"

"No clue, but all I do know is that usually in my journeys, everything is related." Sora ran to catch up with Claudio, Rain and Kairi.

"I have a feeling this guy is going to be a major pain in the ass."

**To Be Continued**

_Another, well written chapter I think; it'll be interesting seeing how Claudio and Rain interacting with Sora, Riku and Kairi especially given Claudio's seemingly bipolar attitudes and the fact that they've served Kairi's family before._

_First fight scene (if you don't count that scant one involving Kira, Sora and Riku) and I'd like to hear a little feedback on it._

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	7. Depart Into The Unknown

_Angelo: I saw Juno the other night it was really funny. It is now one of my favourite comedies of all time including Space Balls, Blazing Saddles, The Producers, Borat, Jackass and Superbad._

_Riku: That Ellen Page is real hot…for a Canadian._

_Angelo: Hey, Canadians are hot. Look at Trish Stratus._

_Riku: Touché. Angelo would like to remind you that he owns nothing related to Square-Enix, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts or Disney. All he owns is the plot, Claudio, Rain and the main villains of the story. This is purely fan-made so please support the original content._

Chapter 7: Depart Into the Unknown

Claudio had certainly taken Sora up on his offer to lunch. He had taken him, Rain, Riku and Kairi back to his place and his mom was more than happy to make up some lunch of which Claudio had eaten three plates. Rain had one plate and for the most time just sat in disgust as Claudio devoured plate after plate.

After his third dish, he leaned back on his chair and sighed. "Thank you very much." You couldn't tell if he was talking to Sora or his mother. "I haven't had a good meal since we left Traverse Town."

"How long was that?" Sora asked, sitting across the table to Claudio and Rain. Claudio held up three fingers.

"Three weeks?" Riku scoffed.

"Three months." Claudio corrected.

"Actually, it was closer to three and a half months." Rain re-corrected. Claudio coughed.

"Anyway." He was picking a strand of food out of his teeth. "You three have some questions to ask?"

"Yes." Kairi spoke up quickly. "You worked for my family. Could you please tell me about them?"

"Um…well your majesty…I mean Kairi." Claudio stammered, tugging at the collar of his shirt. "You see ma'am, there are specific details that escape me at this moment and…" Riku was glaring at the warrior, sensing a con man. "It's a rather complicated story is all and-"

"During the fall we were cracked on the head and we've suffered some amnesia." Rain cut her stammering partner off, saving some face. Despair took over Kairi's face. "But we remember a few things, like you and your family."

"You do!" Her face had brightened almost instantly. "Please, tell me all you know."

"Very well," Claudio exhaled quickly and began. "There was your father, King Areo, he was a wise a benevolent ruler. The most ideal king you could imagine in the world. I thank him for everything I had for nearly two decades. Your mother, the gracious Queen Meryan; she was beautiful, intelligent, caring. She truly was a perfect queen for a perfect king. Now, for the complicated part, your father actually wasn't meant to be King. The previous King, Ansem the Wise, who you have all heard of I'm sure, he had a wife who died young, never giving him a child. In his old age he abdicated the throne to his niece, Meryan, who had married a Prince, Areo, from a neighbouring kingdom."

Rain then picked up the story. "You also had an older brother, Kross." Claudio spat at the mention of the name.

"Hey, this is my house buddy!" Sora yelled at Claudio.

"Claudio, why did you spit when Rain mentioned my brother?" Kairi asked the now disgruntled warrior.

"Because unlike you who was the model of excellence and the perfect vision of royalty." Kairi blushed at the compliment. "Your brother was a stuck-up, snooty little brat that deserved the fate he got when the Garden fell."

"And that, my lady, is really all we remember." Rain looked at Kairi, the face was neither disappointed but it wasn't extremely pleased either.

"Now, any more questions Keybearers?" Claudio asked the three sitting across from him.

There was tiny pause between all the members; they looked at one another for a moment before Riku spoke up. "You know exactly what we want to know. Why are you here?"

Claudio quickly flashed a smile before his face took to a blank and grim look. "We are the rendezvous party that King Mickey sent for you three."

"I don't believe it." Riku gazed at Claudio. His eyes could burn a hole through a man but Claudio wasn't even kindling.

"I thought you wouldn't. From the second I stopped fighting Sora, you've been looking at my like I was a common criminal." He returned an equally burning glare at the silver haired boy. "Like I said, King Mickey sent us to meet you three. About a week ago the King and a mysterious fellow by the name of Terra arrived at our office on Traverse Town. He gave us an ultimatum to come and help you, using your name Princess as leverage.

"We were then instructed to find you and take you to the Gummi Ship hidden on the planet to be transported to the Radiant Garden. There we are to meet with one Donald Duck, Goofy and the King himself where the situation will be explained. We leave tomorrow."

"I still don't believe you." Riku looked from Claudio to Rain and back to Claudio with a look that could curdle even the blood of the foulest villain. Claudio showed no sign of fear, odd since he was slightly afraid of what Kairi's reaction might have been a few minutes ago. Nevertheless, neither of the two were giving the other an inch to move.

"Could you show us some proof?" Sora was tying to defuse the situation amongst the two white haired warriors.

"We can, Sora." Rain pulled an envelope from her backpack and handed it to Sora. It bared the King's seal.

Sora opened the letter and read it with Kairi and Riku

_Dear Sora, Riku and Kairi_

_I know you may be suspicious of Rain and Claudio here but do not worry. We, by whom I mean Terra, and myself, hold these two in the highest faith. Just do what they say and you should be with us soon enough._

_See You Soon, King Mickey._

The letter itself bared the seal of Disney Castle and was written in the King's tiny yet eligible handwriting.

"Do you believe us now?" Rain asked sweetly. Claudio and Riku were still locked on to each other with killing intent.

"I suppose we have to." Kairi responded and Sora nodded in agreement.

Claudio smirked arrogantly. "I'm glad to see two of you have a widget of sense amongst you." He eyed Riku again but nothing happened. "But to be honest, just trust us kid." He was speaking directly to Riku. "I know it must seem weird for us to drop out of the blue but we are telling the truth. We have a common foe and I would like to see it vanished and sooner than later if you catch my drift."

"And what is this common foe?" Riku was a little less suspicious but still looked at the pair questionably.

Claudio tensed his hands together and then he replied in a voice calmer than his normal voice. Yet it was even more menacing than normally. "We know little of them except that every foe you have faced before: Maleficent and her stooges, the Organization, the Heartless and Nobodies, these rogues and scoundrels make them look like bullies in elementary school. They will try to wreck you psychologically, attack you from the shadows. They will target your friends, your family, and your homes. They will kill you at less than a moments notice. Do not show mercy to them, for they have none."

"You certainly know quite a bit about them Claudio." Kairi said to her former guardian.

"We have tangoed with them once or twice." He admitted grimly. "And we'll tango with them again if Terra can be believed."

"Who is this Terra guy?" Sora asked. "You've mentioned him before and I've never heard of him before."

"He was travelling with the King and at first seemed like a scatterbrain moron." Rain answered. "But he seemed to know more than you could imagine. I also sensed his energy, he felt a little like you two." She pointed to Riku and Sora. "I think he might be able to wield a Keyblade, I sensed it in the King."

The three young Keyblade Masters soaked the information in for a second. The story seemed to make sense and they had proof from the King but something seemed a little wrong with the. While they thought, Claudio stood up from his chair and had put his jacket back on, lifting his backpack, duffle bag and guitar case.

"The ship takes off at nine AM sharp. Get your affairs in order and get a good night's sleep." He and Rain headed for the door but were stopped by the sudden appearance of Sora's mother.

"Where do you think you two are going?" She asked the two warriors.

"Well ma'am, we were planning to wander the town a little then get a hotel room for the night."

"Oh no," She said in that kind motherly voice. "You're here to help my son, stay here tonight. We have a guess bedroom for you that we never use."

"We possibly couldn't impose on you miss." Rain politely said. "We'll be fine with a hotel."

"Don't worry about it. You won't be imposing; you'll be out of the way of everyone. And this way we have someone to wake Sora up before nine." Sora looked embarrassed at this comment.

"Well, Rain, our kind hostess seems rather insistent that we stay tonight. So…" Claudio tossed his duffle bag, backpack and guitar case onto a nearby couch followed by his coat and Rain's luggage. "What time is dinner ma'am?" He asked as he tossed his gun into the backpack and removed his black leather shirt to reveal a pale blue t-shirt.

"Around quarter to seven. I'll make sure my husband brings a cot up from the basement so you both have something to sleep on."

"We'll back at six for dinner." Claudio turned to leaved. "Oh, and no need for a cot." Sora's mother looked at him quizzically. "It is tradition for husband and wife to sleep in the same bed, correct?" He and Rain, his wife apparently, left the house to the shocked mother and the three equally shocked teenagers.

"So…" Sora began, breaking the shock-induced silence. "Him and Rain are…"

"Yes." Riku answered, in an equally shocked tone as his friend. "Yes they are."

"And…does that mean that they…you know…together?"

"Sora, you're too young to be asking those questions." His mom hit him with a nearby wooden spoon and then left the three to there thoughts.

"So, what do you think of those two?" Kairi asked her friends.

Sora rubbed the back of his head where the spoon hit him. "Rain seems nice, a little quiet but still nice. Claudio, he confuses me. He seems to have wild mood swings and I just don't get him."

"I don't trust either one." Riku crossed his arms defiantly. "There is something odd about them. Like, they're married right, so why do they appear to look exactly like twenty year olds?"

"Maybe they just got married?" Kairi suggested.

"They both had wedding rings that looked like they were tarnished from use. My mom's ring is exactly the same. Also, they didn't seem to mind the weight of them." Riku got questionable looks from Kairi and Sora. "I've learned how to analyze people's more subtle movements, it tells me a lot about them."

"Like what?" Sora was curious at his friend's newfound ability.

"Like whenever Claudio was asked something by Kairi, he got real nervous but was never like that when he talked to me. Also, when Claudio got nervous, Rain did to. Her eyes darted wildly and then she made a save to make their story plausible. And then there was they way they fought."

"What about it?"

"That one attack that Claudio used. 'Cubic Joint Talent' or 'Prismatic Link Skill' or whatever he called it. Normal people, not even Keyblade Masters, don't possess that ability. And the Rain girl, she could teleport, or at least move at high speeds. Tell me Sora, who, that you have fought, can teleport?"

"Xigbar, Xaldin, Xemnas, Hades…" The brunette rattled off a list of names.

"Right, all villains." Riku nodded his head in triumph.

"Well Riku, I think they are good people." Kairi claimed forcefully. "And I don't care about your suspicions, I'm going with them." She stood up from the table. "I'm taking his suggestion and wrapping up my affairs." She then left.

Sora cleared his throat and faced his friend. "Whether we trust him or not doesn't matter. The King sent him and tomorrow we need to go with him or we put the whole universe at risk."

Riku soaked in these words for a second. He didn't trust either of them still, but knew Sora was right and they had to go with them. Hopefully, this would be the last time he had to see them.

**KHKHKH**

The next morning rolled around rather quickly, Sora stood on the beach Claudio had told them to wait and yawned loudly. He looked around at his surroundings.

He was there, as were Riku and Kairi, of course. But all there families had joined them to see them off. His parents and his thirteen-year-old sister, Kairi's parents and her sister, and Riku's mother were all there for their young children. _'It's nice that they're actually here to see us off.'_ He thought happily. _'No more worrying about the unknown or the worse. They know we'll be okay.'_

His thoughts wear broken when he heard Claudio's voice cut the air. "Hey there!" He called to the group of ten. He and Rain were walking from the far end of the beach, both of them carrying their luggage. Claudio also had a set of wooden swords under his arm. "I was wondering when you would get here. We've been here since quarter past eight."

"Well you did say nine o'clock." Riku stated to the two walking warriors.

"And it is now nine fifteen." He shot back. The hostility those two had last afternoon had lessen, but only by a small fraction. "We got to get rolling so say your goodbyes quickly."

Rain elbowed him in the stomach. "Sirs and madams, I apologize for my husband's bluntness. He's an idiot." Claudio frowned at Rain but she simply smirked at the taller man.

It was scary seeing the husband and wife standing next to each other. Claudio nearly broke 6'4" while Rain stood at a modest 5'5", shorter than Kairi and almost a foot shorter than Claudio. That was just one of the many differences between the duo.

'_It's true what they say.'_ Sora smirked at the bickering couple. _'Opposites do attract.'_

"Hey Claudio," Kairi broke into there petty squabble. "What are the training swords for?"

"Oh, these?" He raised his left arm and the bundle a small height. "I thought I could teach you all some things about sword fighting."

Riku stifled a laugh. "You think you can teach us how to fight?"

Claudio scowled at the cocky teen. He dropped the duffle bag in his right hand and drew a kendo stick from the bundle under his other arm. He quickly swept Riku's legs out from under him and then held the tip of his kendo stick over his face.

"Now I do. Now I know." He smirked at the downed teen and then offered him a hand to get up.

Riku denied it.

"So Claudio," Kairi quickly said, defusing the situation. "Where is the Gummi Ship, when is it coming?"

Claudio dumped his and Rain's luggage in a pile and then drew a tiny remote from his pocket. He pressed a button and said. "It's already here, my lady."

Nothing happened.

"I guess this is one of the invisible models?" Riku mocked him. Claudio simply held up five fingers.

"In five, four, three, two, one…" A large orange ship rose up from the water as the 'one' escaped Claudio's lips. It hovered above the previously calm ocean waters while Claudio smirked and Riku scowled. "Am I good or what? Say your goodbyes everyone, The King will be expecting us."

Claudio walked to the shoreline, still carrying the guitar case, slung over his back.

Sora, Kairi and Riku took their time to say their goodbyes. No tears were shed, although Sora and Riku's mothers were making a visible effort to hold there tears back. Rain had brought the Gummi Ship over the beach and was fiddling with it while Claudio looked onto the cerulean ocean, drowning out the farewells with the ebb and the flow of the ocean.

'_This world is so serene, so calm.' _He thought as the foam rose and receded in its endless cycle. _'It would be a terrible sin if They managed to assault it. Wouldn't put it past them though; to bad all worlds weren't like this. It really is perfect, 'cept for the weather.'_

A voice broke his train of thought. "What are you looking at?"

He looked out of the corner of his eye to see Kairi standing next to him.

"Nothing, Your Majesty." He replied coolly. "Just marvelling at the beauty of this world. Whoever brought you here did a good job picking a world. This place is a paradise."

"My father said some person in armour and robes brought me."

Claudio tilted his head to the morning sun. "There were a lot of the people in the Garden who wore armour and wore robes." He sighed softly. "It'll be nice returning, don't you think?"

"Yes. Apparently Leon and the Restoration Committee have done a good job repairing it. At least according to Sora." She sighed too. "Were you born on the Garden?"

"No, I was-" He stopped his speech. Something had caught his attention. A feeling that he'd felt many times before.

Sora had sensed it too, same with Riku.

"Heartless!" Sora called out. Claudio and Kairi turned and saw several inky black shadows crawling out from the sands. Others appeared in portals of dark energy. All five warriors ran up to where the beach met the forest to protect the defenceless families.

"Everyone, try and escape. I don't want you caught up in this." Sora declared. The parents and siblings tried to run but a translucent barrier rose up, trapping the small group in a cube that blocked all escape and their path to the Gummi Ship.

At this point, several portals enwrapped in thorns of nothingness appeared over the beach and creatures that looked like they wore white jumpsuits emerged from them, dancing in a strange, lithe manner.

"Claudio!" Rain called out. Claudio nodded and opened a compartment on his guitar case and drew a sword. This one was different though. It was as long as a katana but wider in the blade and with a curved guard at the hilt. It looked like a strange fusion of a rapier, katana and broadsword.

Claudio tossed the blade to Rain who drew it from the sheath and then cut a set of Soldier Heartless in clean in half.

"Heartless and Nobodies," Claudio sighed loudly. "Can't I have a day where things go exactly as planned?" He blocked a charging Dusk Nobody with his guitar case and then knocked it back with a punch. "Stay close, they'll try and separate us!" He drew his traditional blade from the case and cleaved the same Dusk in two with a single one-handed strike.

He then noticed Sora had summoned his Keyblade, Ultima Weapon. Kairi and Riku had followed the lead and had called Blooming Radiance and Way to the Dawn. Sora charged headlong into battle, throwing caution to the wind while Riku did the same charge but darted gracefully to and fro around the opponents. Kairi stayed back and moved around gracefully, fighting like a dancer, luring her opponents inward and then striking with a series of fast attacks.

The enemy squad consisted of Shadow, Soldier and Air Soldier Heartless along with Dusk and Creeper Nobodies. Nothing to serious but the main problem wasn't defeating the foes but protecting the innocent bystanders in harm's way.

A fireball zoomed over Claudio's head and he saw Sora and Kairi were sticking near their parents and using magic from a distance. Only ten Dusks remained now and they were all snaking towards Kairi and Sora. They slithered around the magical volley and any attempt at close combat.

He closed his right eye, letting his dominant left take over, he drew his pistol and fired a series of ten quick shots from behind, killing each Dusk instantly, causing them to vanish in a small cascade of light.

The warriors then regrouped. "Something tells me this isn't going to bode well for the rest of the day." Riku muttered grimly. Sora looked around.

"Hey, doesn't a barrier usually fall when the Heartless are killed?" He asked. Riku and Claudio nodded in agreement and a look of concern overtook all their faces.

"Sora…" His mother whispered. None of the family members had seen their children fight and it was a little scary even though it was only a scant amount of their power.

"Whoa! This isn't time for the minor characters to speak their lines!" The group looked around to see if they could find the owner of the voice. It was the voice of the first speaker at the ceremony, Kaiser.

"No…" Rain whispered softly and shot a concerning look to Claudio.

"Who's there?" Riku challenged the voice. A loud cackling rang through the air.

"You hear that Kaiser?" The laughing voice said. "This kid has balls, challenging you!"

"He's going to learn what happens when the minor cast tries to upstage the leads." Kaiser roared back to the other voice.

"Continuing with the theatre references," a third voice, this one female, said. "Should we raise the curtain on these little punks and bitches?"

"Sounds like a plan." Kaiser agreed with the third speaker.

The air above the beach began to ripple as a plain of asphalt would on a hot summer day. Twelve figures appeared from the ripples, phasing into existence almost. Two stood ahead of the group, in the center, with the other ten staggered to their sides, five on each. Some members wore masks or hoods to cover their faces but very few things were uniform amongst these people. The only real thing was a type of white cloak, jacket or shirt with a black marking that looked like a heart cleaved in two.

The person on the center-right wore a full body white cloak like an Organization member would have with the shattered heart framed in the center. Next was a man wearing an open white jacket, the heart on the back, with medium length tangled blonde and black hair. He had markings stretching from his eye to his temples, blue eyes with slit pupils and visibly enlarged canines.

Continuing on the right was a tall man who wore a cape draped over his body and a cowl on his head. Then came an even taller man with a torn cloak, worn over his shoulder with an up, peaked hood hiding his face. After him was another man wearing a white outfit that looked like a jogging outfit and a skull cap with the torn heart on it. He was long and lanky body with yellow eyes, long black hair and tanned skin. The final person was a short man wearing a vest with torn sleeves, short, spiked black hair and headphones around his neck.

The center-left person was instantly identifiable: Kira. Except this time he no longer wore his ratty black cloak but still had a mask up to hide his face. Next to Kira was a man who would stand taller than Kira except he stooped over, he had white pants, a jacket, a boots, slicked back black hair with two bangs hanging down, gloved hands; a bored look was plastered on his face.

Next was a woman who carried an air of dignity around her. She had grey eyes, long red and black hair that extended far below her waist and a form fitting white shirt and a long skirt with boots. She stood next to another woman wearing high-heel boots, jeans and a hooded vest; she also had tanned skin, yellow eyes and black hair. The next man had black hair in a braided ponytail, an under kimono, black socks, Japanese hakama and armour including breastplate and gauntlets. The final person was a young girl with violet eyes, curly brown hair, high-heel boots, a mini skirt and breastplate armour.

"Who are you?" Sora demanded, bearing the Keyblade threateningly.

"We are the Immortals," The man on the center-right said in a booming, bellowing voice. "We are the saviours of this pathetic little cosmos and all its inhabitants. We are their guardians, their protectors, their Gods." An ill silence fell on the beach. A cold wind blew, swirling the sand around them. "Sora, we are your enemies. You are our enemies. As are all wielders of the Keyblade. You threaten our plans and have a habit of interfering where you do not belong.

"But, your hearts are also very powerful and as such we need them for the sacrifice. All of you." He spread his arms out, motioning to the teenagers and their families. "You will be spared and be sacrificed for the greater good, for the greater cause of all. To be part of the Finale of all things." He hung his head down as if in despair. "Others will not be so lucky. The pure shall be 'spared' for the cause, while the tainted and unclean will be hunted down and exterminated. They will be slashed, cut and pierced. Beaten, crush, strangled. Burned, torn and mutilated. Decapitated, garrotted, strangled, impaled, shot and executed without any mercy at all. The time has finally come to cleanse the worlds."

The man's last words hung in the air for a second. A very chilling second, Sora's nerves were shot just from the power his words possessed. But he wouldn't let that stop him.

"You're not going to do that!" He exclaimed. "We'll stop you, you'll see!"

"Sadly, it is already too late for you to do anything." The speaker replied in his chilling voice. "For you shall soon die."

"Oh, Cassius!" The man with yellow eyes and tanned skin jumped at this option from their apparent leader, he was practically begging for something. "Let me deal with these dickholes. By the time I'm finished, they'll be so full of lead, we can use them as pencils!" The man cackled at his own joke.

"No, I think that honour will go to Kaiser." The man with the black-blonde hair and feral appearance smiled, showing his set of sharp teeth and fangs. "Leave no survivors. The Keybearers and their families must die. Do as you wish."

The other eleven members vanished in the same shimmering warp they appeared leaving just Kaiser floating above them, grinning wickedly.

"Well, looks like I get to have some fun." He smirked. "At long last." He snapped his fingers three times. "Heartless!" Several Heartless, Shadows, Neoshadows, Soldiers, Wyverns and Lance Soldiers, all appeared at his behest. "Nobodies!" Berserkers, Dancers, Dragoons, Sorcerers and Dusks came out from the thorny portals they summoned. "Fell Souls!"

Three strange breeds of creatures appeared. The first were humanoid shaped with charcoal skin and bits of copper armour. They had conical helms and wielded two long swords. The next looked like deformed canines, hairless with a series of fleshy spines rising from their back. They had two heads with eyes that burned like coals. The final type were bird-creatures with tar black feathers, long, pale white beaks and long whip-like tails ending with a barbed blade. Each creature had a similar symbol on their body, four hearts with their tips touching each other, forming an even armed cross and inscribed with a circle.

"What are these things?" Riku asked in semi-curiosity, semi-disgust.

"No clue." Claudio replied, eliminating three Soldiers with a single swipe. "But I think we'll find out after we fight them."

Each warrior ran off to face a different group of foes. Kairi dealt with the swifter Wyverns, Dancers, Dusks and the canine Fell Souls, Howlers. She showed her own grace and agility, dodging and dashing any attack they threw at her. Kairi cut them with the Keyblade and blasted them with her magic. All of this made her battle look less like a brawl and more like some eerie dance.

'I'm glad I taught her how to fight.' Sora reflected as he spied her graceful strikes while fending off Lance Soldiers and Dragoons. Her magic was limited to second level Fire magic, third level Cure magic and second level Blizzard magic but was still enough. Sora had learned she had practised sparring with Tidus, Wakka and Selphie during Sora and Riku's absence and he personally taught her magic. 'Maybe this journey won't be so bad after all. She can fight well enough on her own.'

Riku was dealing with Sorcerers, Berserkers and Dragoons, showing off his several dark and sword techniques he had learned. Dark Barrage, Dark Break, Helm Splitter, Stinger, Dark Firaga, Dark Blizzaga, Dark Thundaga, Edged Raid, Charging Spiral and Swooping Swallow all helped to clear the small swarm of enemies. He eyed Kaiser; he was still floating above them, standing on the air, eyeing them with cruel eyes.

'What could he be planning?' He thought. 'Does he think he can beat us with this tiny amount of Heartless and Nobodies?'

He parried a claymore strike from a Berserker and cleaved it in half with a single swipe. He then took the fallen Nobodies weapon and hurled it into a Sorcerer, shattering its cube shield and its frail body

Kairi herself was juggling the Wyverns and Dancers with her Keyblade and then leapt into the air, finishing them with a cross-slash. She then unleashed a barrage of Fira blasts onto the enemy battalion below.

Sora nabbed the lance of one of the Lance Soldier Heartless and was taking it on a wild ride, destroying everything in his way. He then peered over to see how Claudio and Rain were doing.

Both were doing fine in the battle. Using there blades they were more than a match for the Heartless and Nobodies but the stranger creatures, the "Fell Souls" as Kaiser called them, forced them to use more drastic measures.

Rain was standing off against two of the humanoid creatures, Savants, but no longer. She charged the one standing ahead of its kin and struck with a quick slash to the midsection, the creature blocked with both blades and feel to one knee and the second Savant spring boarded off the beast into the air, blades aimed at Rain. She moved back, deflected the airborne strike and then blocked two fast swipes from the first Savant. To avoid being cut up she back flipped to a safe distance and smiled in wry amusement.

"7 Rose Draw No.1!" Energy flew from Rain's outstretch hand and latched onto the first Savant as she whipped it around like a rag doll, smacking it into anything in her path. She drew it in to her and delivered two fast sword swipes to the helpless beast and killed the beast. But the battle wasn't over as she spied a Howler to her left. The lower head fired a sound wave and the upper head fired a fireball, both careening towards her.

"7 Rose Draw No.2: Aegis Shield!" She nabbed a Dusk and brought it in between herself and the two blasts. The Nobody took the attack and expired. She then saw a small swath of Heartless behind the Howler; she clenched her fist as power flickered in her palm. "7 Rose Draw No. 3: Spirit Bomb!" An orb of spirit fire appeared in her hand and she hurled it at the group of Heartless, wiping them and the Howler out in a single blast.

She rolled to avoid the explosion and one of the avian Fell Souls, a Carrion Bomber, that was dive-bombing straight for her. As it returned to the sky she took it as another advantage. "7 Rose Draw No.4: Buster!" She thrust her hand forward and a disembodied hand followed. It snatched the Bomber from the air and dragged it to her, the hand holding it in front of her. She rained a series of punches onto the beast before finishing it with a slash from her blade. Overhead, another Bomber died as a bullet pierced its beak, she saw Claudio grinning at her, gun aimed above her head.

Eighteen shells were strewn on the sands around Claudio as he fended off the feeble strikes of a Neoshadow before putting it out of its misery with High Streak, his triggered sword. He snapped the chamber open and flipped a ring of bullets out of his belt; it danced in midair before falling in place in the chamber, the ring popping off it.

He began running in the middle of the fray, shooting down any foe that got it his way in quick order. After firing the eleventh shot, he jumped off the head of a Berserker, shot it, and used his next six rounds to eliminate a squad of Dragoons.

As he floated in midair, he called another of his signature moves. "Prism Chain Arts, Blasting Style: Bullet Counterflux!" The eighteen shots he just used stirred as he was surrounded in a current of golden and crimson energy. They shot back up to him and hovered around him for a second. "Eighteen bullets become thirty-six!" He declared. "Prism Chain Arts, Blasting Style: Bullet Flux Rebound!"

He spun, dispersing the energy around him and sending the bullets hailing down on the enemy forces. He landed back on the beach and faced a small group of Dusks. "Prism Chain Arts, Thundaga Style: Lightning Ray!" A white beam of energy shot from his index finger and eliminated a row of Dusks. He leapt backwards and used another Chain Art on the remaining Nobodies. "Prism Chain Arts, Firaga Style." An orange orb appeared in his hand, swirling like some compact storm. "Grenadier Blaze!" He tossed the orb into the group of Dusk and eliminated them with a burst of fire

"Prism Chain Arts, Blasting Style: Demon Ammunition!" With his ammo-less gun in hand, Claudio began to fire rapidly at anything in his path. The bullets were made of black energy and were streaked with white energy like comets were being shot from the barrel, mowing down anything so unlucky to be hit by them.

But the battle was starting to take its toll on some other members of the heroes. Kairi, the least inexperienced member, was taking on some battle fatigue as she was faced off against what was pretty much a sea of Shadow Heartless. She was weary and each slash of her Keyblade was lower and slower than the one before. The Heartless didn't seem any less numerous, constantly swarming over the Princess of Heart, scratching and clawing and ripping at her skin and clothing.

Soon enough, she could barely lift her blade and the Heartless were swarming all over her, dog piling onto the fallen warrior, groping and scratching on her fallen body. Her eyes were closed and she whimpered faintly as she could feel cool crimson blood run down her face in small marks. She could feel every movement they made but couldn't do anything.

Then, in an instant, she snapped.

Her eyes shot open, but they weren't the same soft, cool ocean blue eyes that she had but instead were a dark, faded blue mixed with a fierce yellow. In a second the Heartless squirming atop her body were blasted away and Kairi stood up. Dark energy streamed off her into the air in ribbons of red, black, blue and purple, she had a sick grimace on her face and a cruel shine in those blue and yellow eyes.

She pounced at the Heartless who were once piling on her and began destroying them. She had eschewed her Keyblade and was simply hammering them with her fists, each Heartless exploding in a burst of darkness. Her eyes glimmered again with sick pleasure as she massacred Heartless after Heartless after Heartless.

Claudio took notice of this and looked around. Sora was concentrating on his enemies, as were Rain and Riku. The parents were engrossed in Sora and Riku, ignoring Kairi, who was at the farthest edge of the beach. Claudio was the only one who noticed Kairi's berserker form. He then thought back to a few words Terra gave him before setting him off.

_"If you find your Princess, you might find her darkness is running rampant. You have powers from your days as a bodyguard and you'll need to use it if you find this phenomenon. I don't think I need to remind you what will happen if a Princess of Heart allows her heart to be ruled by darkness."_

He dashed over to the berserker Kairi, dodging any foe that he came near and got into close range of the Princess. He closed his eyes and concentrated hard on his memories as a bodyguard and of the Garden and used that latent knowledge from long ago. "In the name of the Radiant Garden, the Kingdom of Everlasting Light, darkness I banish thee from your host!" Orbs of light flew from his palms and encircled Kairi. Following the bright nimbus, she fell to the sand; her eyes back to normal, the darkness receding away. He cradled her unconscious body and looked over to see the other events of the battle.

**KHKHKH**

It was at this time that Riku figured out that the barrier that initially surrounded them had fallen but their parents were still standing around. While fending off the attack of a Savant he turned to them and yelled. "Hey, the barriers down! Get moving! Away from here, now!" They started to run but Kaiser, who until this point had done nothing, smirked cruelly.

"No, I'm not letting any witnesses leave this thing." He sneered at the white haired Keyblade Master and the families. He drew his right fist back and then punched the air, forcing an energy dart to zip from the back of his palm towards the families.

"No!" Riku cried, he was too far to reach them in time, the energy dart was definitely lethal and they were right in its way. "Darkness, defend! Come, Guardian!" His shadow crept to life and arose from the beach as the Guardian of Xehanort's Heartless. It took the blast with its impervious body and vanished. The families looked shocked and scared at Riku's control of the darkness but continued on their retreat.

When Riku returned to reality, Kaiser had dove from the air and bull-rushed him, driving the wind from his lungs. Riku got a good look at his face; it was very feline and predatory. As Riku got up from the sand he saw an evil grimace on Kaiser's face and a cruel look in his eyes.

"Boy," He threatened coldly, tossing off his jacket, leaving him in his undershirt but revealing arm armour. It travelled from his shoulders to his wrists, pure white and banded with jagged sickle blades protruding from the elbow. "I'll teach you not to steal someone else's prey!"

Kaiser rushed him again but this time Riku was ready, he dodged the first ram attempt and spun around, Keyblade in hand, and darted to Kaiser's exposed back. His foe brought up his leg to block the slash, stopping it dead in its tracks. Riku saw Kaiser wore no footwear and that both his hands and feet and feline claws at their edges.

Kaiser hooked his heel on Way to the Dawn and leapt into the air, striking at Riku with a series of swipes and jabs from his claws. Riku nimbly evaded the strikes, eyeing a blade at Kaiser's waist, wondering why he wasn't wielding it now. A smile of pleasure crossed Kaiser's face as he landed from his aerial assault. He backed away from Riku for a moment before charging once again.

Riku leapt over his foe's head and bounded off a tree, ready to slice through Kaiser's shoulder. Again, a sick smile of pleasure overcame Kaiser's face. He roared, and roared loudly. Riku saw the air ripple from the pure pressure of the sound, when he got within range for striking his enemy; he felt the power of the sound wave below his feet. He was hovering in midair before being thrown away by the sound.

'Energy darts and sound pressure?' His mind was racing, his heart beating wildly. 'What is this guy?'

As Riku recovered from the sound blast, Kaiser was spinning towards him like a top. He connected with an axe kick to his shoulder and a series of punches and knees to his body, sending him reeling backwards.

The predatory fighter crouched on all fours before pouncing at Riku, leaping high into the air. He crashed down with a spinning heel kick to the gut and then turned around, hitting an enzuguri kick to his temple and then springing off his chest with a dropkick.

Riku was sent rolling from the strikes and once again saw Kaiser was charging him again. He weakly held his Keyblade up but felt someone grab his wrist. Claudio stood behind him.

"You've had enough mate." He said calmly. He tossed him behind his back and leapt forward to meet the charging predator. "Tag out!"

Kaiser smiled in wry amusement at the prospect of a new opponent and began to spin like a top once again. He brought his leg down in another axe kick but Claudio blocked it with his pistol's barrel. He forced Kaiser to back flip away and tried to strike him with a high knee. Kaiser blocked it as well as the arc kick, thrust kick, roundhouse kick, and sword slash that followed.

Both men leapt away from each other and began the dance again. As Kaiser charged, Claudio fired off his gun and the Lightning Ray but Kaiser dodged each one while managing to continue the advance. Kaiser pounced with a low spin kick but Claudio jumped high and removed his coat, flinging it at Kaiser.

He cursed loudly as the coat blocked his view. Claudio roosted himself in a high bough on a palm tree and waited for him to remove the coat. He did so and Claudio shot the last three bullets in the chamber, all hitting their mark. He leapt from his roost and tried to cut Kaiser down the middle but he jumped back again.

Kaiser proceeded to fire energy darts at Claudio. The High Streak deflected each blue energy ray and he charged at the predator again, Kaiser blocked the sword swing with his bare claws. He then took a chance and vaulted himself over Claudio, spiralling like a buzz saw and managing to cut several deep gouges in Claudio's body before kicking him away.

"Claudio!" Sora cried, running to his aid. "Cur-" He began to cast but Claudio held a hand up.

"No!" He said sharply. "Heal your friends, I'm fine." Sora looked at him strangely but he then saw all the cuts on his back began to knit themselves up. He stared in shock at the blue-haired warrior and he simply smiled and said. "High-speed regeneration."

He spun up and faced Kaiser again who instantly started his barrage of energy darts. Claudio swiftly bypassed them and got into a good range to his foe. But his foe once again leapt away, keeping the distance between them large. The predatory enemy wound up his arm and performed and elbow block through the air.

From his charged elbow scythes launched an energy sickle similar to his darts but much larger. With little time to react, Claudio quickly blurted out. "Prism Chain Arts, Striking Style: Sword Pressure." The two blade beams collided with each other and exploded in a plume of dust and sand.

Claudio looked blankly at the cloud. Wondering what Kaiser could be doing on the other side.

He soon got his answer as Claudio bounded through the cloud and jumped onto Claudio. Latching his fangs and claws into his shoulders, Claudio gasped in pain as Kaiser smirked through a mouthful of blood and flesh.

Then, something happened that surprised most of the combatants. Claudio began to laugh. "You really are an idiot, you know that Kitty." Kaiser looked at him with eyes of fury but soon they turned to eyes of pain as let go of Claudio.

Riku stood behind the fallen foe as Kaiser roared in pain; Way to the Dawn was sticking from his back. Riku re-summoned the Keyblade and Claudio's wounds healed themselves.

Then, Kaiser began to cackle at the Keyblade Warriors. "You think this is a great victory?" He mocked them. "You think just because you wounded one of us means that you can beat all of us?" He cackled again and smirked evilly at all five of them. "Prepare to be shocked."

Kaiser then faded away just like he appeared, his laughing still ringing in the air.

The three Keybearers looked at each other nervously, Kaiser had proven a strong foe to both Riku and Claudio and they knew he had eleven allies that probably could match him in power.

Claudio and Rain were gathering their gear up and looked to the three teenagers. "Now, lady and gents, we have to get moving." Claudio sharply told them. "Unless you want that to threaten your islands again?" They looked to each other and then the two warriors who were walking up the ramp into the Gummi Ship. They followed in silence as they departed to the Radiant Garden

**To Be Continued**

_Wow, twenty pages and a bit, that's quite a long chapter. Plus, you all got to see the villains for the first time and saw Kaiser in action. No cliché elemental manipulation here, just pure ass-kicking martial arts and some generic energy attacks._

_For the love of God, someone review. As of writing the review count is at one. Please, please for all things holy, Review!_

_On a side note, thanks to Kairi1624 for the first review, may not have been much but it's the thought that counts. Thank you very much!_

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	8. First Landing

Angelo: Okay, I don't own Kingdom Hearts…blah, blah, blah…blah, blah, blah, Scott McNeil kicks ass…after eight chapters you should know the drill.

Chapter 8: First Landing

The flight to the Radiant Garden would take two hours in the current model of Gummi Ship they were in. The autopilot was pretty much doing everything for them so the group pretty much sat down and relaxed for the time being. Riku was still a little sore from his round with Kaiser, Sora sat with him in the galley while Kairi, Claudio and Rain were nowhere to be found. Riku had been mulling on one thing for a while, chewing on his lip while thinking as he always did and he finally decided to say it.

"So," he began, talking to his best friend. "What do you think of those two now?" This question had been bugging him for the past hour. Seeing as how an hour ago, Claudio probably saved his life by "tagging out" in his battle against Kaiser.

"Well," Sora rubbed his chin in thought. "They did seem to save your life back then. And they definitely pulled their wait in the battle. But I don't really know." He looked out of one of the side portholes, watching the ship zoom by worlds, stars and asteroids. "I've been talking with Roxas since this morning and he seems to trust them, despite not ever interacting with them at all." Riku let loose a cocky grin.

"Well that settles it." He declared with half a laugh.

"What? You trust Roxas more than me?" Sora was insulted.

"When you two split apart, Roxas pretty much got all the common sense." Sora huffed loudly, his face red. Riku narrowed his eyes and lost all the happiness in him. "They're powerful."

"Yeah." Sora saw how powerful Kaiser was, handling Riku like he was nothing. "But we'll be able to beat them, no problem." Riku shook his head.

"No," he said grimly. "He was holding back, a lot back. He didn't even draw his blade and still he tossed me around like I was nothing. Even when he fought Claudio he was only hit by three bullets and my Keyblade." He clenched his fist tightly and unclenched it.

"Maybe, but I know you were holding back." Riku smiled sheepishly.

"There is only so much of the darkness I dare to use on the Islands." He turned away. "They've seen enough of it."

Riku then tensed his fingers and looked at Sora again. "I think we have to trust Claudio and Rain. Otherwise we may lose to them. Just Kaiser was enough of a struggle but there are eleven more we need to deal with."

There was a loud _swooshing_ and Claudio, Kairi and Rain stepped into the galley behind the two Keyblade Masters followed closely by Kairi. "You hear that Rain?" Claudio said with his trademark smirk. "The Keyblade Masters finally trust me." He took a seat for himself, Kairi and Rain and they all sat down. "And all I had to do was take a bite from that deranged housecat called Kaiser." He laughed loudly, Rain and Kairi not making a sound. He then faced his four companions. "And now our next step is to learn what we are up against."

"It's always like King Mickey to have the answers." Riku stated calmly, the previous animosity to Kaiser now gone. "Wonder what he had to do this time."

"I don't think he really had to do anything." Rain spoke up to the group. "When he visited our office in Twilight Town, his companion Terra seemed to do most of the talking." She looked at Sora. "Are you sure you never met him before? He seemed to know a bit about you (A/N 1)."

"No Rain," Sora repeated to the auburn-haired girl again. "I have never met anyone named 'Terra' before." Riku was biting his lip and Sora saw this. "What's on your mind Riku?"

"Hmm, oh well I was just wondering about the powers that Claudio and Rain showed off." Rain and Claudio looked to Riku. "It seems you have some rather unique abilities."

"Well," Rain began for the duo. "We both possess super-human strength, speed and stamina. In addition we have two powers unique to ourselves." Claudio picked it up.

"I have my Prism Chain Arts and high-speed regeneration while Rain has her 7 Rose Draw and short-range teleportation."

"The 7-Rose Draw," Rain had now gone back to explaining. "Basically I gather energy from myself and my surroundings and use it in various ways, linking it to other energy sources for whatever purpose. You have already seen four of my seven powers. The first Draw allows me to link my energy with another things energy and manipulate it like telekinesis." She demonstrated with Claudio's chair, who simply glared at her.

"The Aegis Shield," she continued after putting Claudio down, "Involves the same principle as the first Draw, letting me grab an enemy and fortifying it into a shield to block attacks. The Spirit Bomb let's me link energy into a bomb for obvious reasons and the Buster creates giant fists that I can use to grapple my enemies and chain different combos."

Claudio coughed. "As for my Prism Chain Arts…well, first I need to explain this." He hefted the High Streak off his back and onto his lap. "The reason High Streak vibrates when I press the trigger is to weaken molecular and spiritual bonds of its target. I am then able to collect said energy and manipulate it into different forms." He sheathed High Streak and then caused golden energy to dance on his fingertips. "Molecular, spiritual, electrical, kinetic, any form of energy you can think of. I absorb it and manipulate it using the Chain Arts. I possess seven styles: Striking, Blasting, Aerial, Thundaga, Firaga, Blizzaga and Finisher styles."

Riku and Sora absorbed all this in and then looked to Kairi, who had made no reaction during this explanation. "What's with you?" Sora asked her.

"They already explained this to me while arguing with the autopilot." Every pair of eyes looked at Claudio.

"What? Don't look at me like that. That machine is too much of a smart ass for its own good." They still stared. "Fine, I never liked machines, okay, sue me." They continued to stare. "Stop looking at me damn it!" He sighed while pushing himself from the table. "Whatever, I'm going to sleep, call me when we land."

Claudio left the galley with Rain dogging his heels. She pumped her little legs as fast as they could go to catch up with her husband's long strides. "You're putting on quite a show, aren't you?" She asked when they were finally together.

"What?" He said innocently as he entered his cabin. "I like to show off my prestige as an actor." He went to lie down on the bed with Rain following him.

"That's not what I'm talking about. You and I both know what's going on…"

"But we're just acting in the means of self-preservation." He finished for her. Rain rested her head on his chest but Claudio was focused on other things. Staring at the ceiling he let his mind wonder at to what may happen on this journey. He sighed loudly and Rain looked up at him in wonderment. "Just thinking about the Garden. Eleven years since we've been there. I wonder what has happened to it, if any of the survivors remember us. What do you think?"

She smiled at him. "I think we should follow the Princess until she wishes us not to, to keep that oath." He smiled back and kissed Rain on top of her soft head of auburn hair.

"That's why I love you Rain."

**KHKHKH  
**

The five departed from their vessel an hour later into the marketplace of the town that was the Radiant Garden. Leon and the Restoration Committee had been doing their work in the time Sora had left. Several more houses were grouped together and dispersed all over the place. Ascending from the distant city line were the frames that would become skyscrapers, looking like the skeletons of some sort of massive behemoth. A map was located in the market and showed that in the short time Sora had left, the city had grown almost tenfold. A list of upcoming projects was tacked next to the map and Sora read that soon enough the land outside the town would be cultivated and the castle cleared out and made habitable again.

But, with out a doubt, the biggest change was the _people_. The last time Sora was here, no one besides the Committee would dare step outside their own houses but now just the market was loaded with people. At points, the group needed to elbow their way through and around the mob just to get around. People would recognize Sora too. Half a dozen times someone shouted his name and soon the entire marketplace was swarming around him. Luckily Claudio and Riku worked crowd control to move the gang through and out the market, waiting on the steps that lead to the Borough First District.

Where the borough once existed now was a sprawl of residential houses and shops, all spread out amongst the city. Pathways lead to other districts and the bailey but the most disconcerting fact was that Merlin's house no longer stood in the borough. The house used to act as a base for the Committee but it was no gone and so was the chance of finding the others without wondering aimlessly through the city. Everyone sat down on a nearby bench and sighed loudly.

"So," Riku said, lying on a bench all to his self. "Where do we go now Sora?"

The Keyblade Master shrugged. "Beats me, this city has grown quiet a bit since I was here. And I don't know how either, only a few months has passed and this place has become just massive."

Claudio smiled. Not that this was abnormal; he has had a smile plastered on his face since they made port on this world. "Either way," he said through his smile. "It's good to be home and I am proud of whoever restored this town to what it is now."

"That'd be Leon and the rest of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee."

"Well, I'll have to thank each and everyone of them when we find them." He looked over to Kairi and Rain. "What do you two think of this all?"

Rain smiled, a sign Claudio knew meant that she agreed with him, Kairi spoke up though. "It really is beautiful." She remarked at her home city, her world, her kingdom. "I vaguely remember being here when Sora released my heart from his body and it definitely has changed a lot." They all took time to look at how much the world had changed from Maleficent's home base to this wonderful city. "But I don't think I would want to rule it. Even if it is my birth right."

"The Kingdom of the Radiant Garden has not had a ruling monarch in over a decade." Claudio said, looking up at the sky. "But the matter of fact is not whether you want to rule or not but if the people want a monarch, or a democracy or a combination of the two. Either way, one day you'll have to answer the call of your birth." He closed his eyes as everyone stared at him in awe from the profound statement he gave. His eyes shot open and he plainly said. "Someone approaches."

"Heartless?" Riku asked. "Or those guys from the Island?"

"Now, now," a male voice familiar to Sora said, "You don't have to worry about any of that stuff."

The group stood up from their bench to see a few familiar faces and a few new ones. The first, the speaker, was a tall man with short brown hair, a scar cut across his face and a black jacket with a fur-lined collar. Standing next to him was a short woman with raven-black hair held back by a headband. She wore light blue top and tan shorts and long black and blue striped socks. She stood next to the first of the two strangers, a tall woman with pale white skin, long black hair a blue sweater, black shorts and short black boots. Next to her was man with black pants, boots, a blue jacket and a blue bandana covering his grey hair.

"Leon!" Sora cried in surprise. "Yuffie!" He rushed up to them for yet another reunion with the Radiant Garden Gang. "How's it hanging guys?"

"Fine enough Keyblade Master." Yuffie replied cheerfully at the brunette who she was actually the only person she knew that was closest to her fight.

"You've been busy I've seen." Leon smiled slightly at Sora.

"We still have a lot of work to do but I think even Ansem the Wise would be proud of what we've done."

"Then I must know a different Ansem the Wise mate," Claudio said to Leon. "He had a kingdom that stretched farther than you could possibly imagine. Or did you forget? Little Squall Leonhart?"

Leon looked confused at the warrior in his eccentric silver jacket and startling red sunglasses. "Oh don't look so shocked at me." Claudio continued despite the shock of the four visitors. "I should be shocked at how big you've grown. I remember a time when you could barely stand up to my waist. You have to be what? Twenty-two? Twenty-three?"

"Twenty-five. But that's not the point. Who are you? All of you?" Leon said to the group besides Sora.

Claudio flashed a wry smile to the Gunblade warrior. "I'm hurt you've forgotten me. Remember? I was one of the Royal Bodyguards here for twenty years."

Leon and Yuffie looked at the group in astonishment. "Claudio? Rain?" Yuffie said as Leon had swallowed his own tongue.

"That's right." Rain replied to the ninja. Claudio smiled again.

"Well, well, well. Little Yuffie Kisaragi. Still stealing food from the kitchens? Or have you moved on to bigger game?"

"You bet." She admitted proudly. "I am now the World's Greatest Materia Hunter."

"Isn't 'thief' a more apt term?" Yuffie cursed Claudio while he laughed. "God, its good to be back!"

"So," Leon began, regaining his breath after seeing a ghost from his past. "Who are your other friends?"

"Oh, well it has been a while since you've seen them. These are Riku and Kairi. Guys, you remember Leon?" The two nodded as Leon smiled slightly, also remembering who they were.

The man in the blue bandana balked when he heard the word, 'Kairi'. "Kairi? Princess Kairi?" The man knelt to her. "Well, I must say, it is an honour for this old treasure hunter to see such a sweet sight as you."

"Isn't 'thief' a more apt term?" Yuffie asked to the grey-haired man, winking at Claudio.

"Yuffie," the man said as if he was hurt. "You insult me. You know I prefer the term 'Treasure Hunter'. I seek fabulous relics from across the world not purses to cut with a knife."

"Sora." Leon began. "Allow me to introduce Locke Cole." The grey-haired man bowed to the group. "And Rinoa Heartilly." The woman extended her hand and Sora shook it. "The two newest members of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee."

"Nice to meet you two," Kairi replied curtly, shaking Locke and Rinoa's hands.

"So, where did Merlin's house go?" Sora asked. Leon pointed over the horizon.

"We set up a new base of operation down by where the Postern used to be." Leon explained. "Merlin has since left to go back to his home world, now that it has been restored thanks to your efforts."

"Which reminds me," Locke interjected himself. "Don't we have to get back there to meet up with the King, the dog and the duck?"

"For once, you're right Locke." Leon walked away to where he had pointed, Locke, Yuffie and Rinoa following. "Come on you five, we got to get going." The others followed the Radiant Warriors to the new base.

**KHKHKH**

After crossing the city and passing outside the city limits, the group arrived at the new massive base for the Committee. As Sora and the others stepped inside, he saw that Aerith, Tifa and Cid were in waiting for him at one end of a large conference table. But what caught him his eye were the four familiar faces sitting in the corner. They were Donald Duck, Goofy and King Mickey. They all leapt out of their chairs and rushed him, Riku and Kairi. Claudio and Rain took seats opposite to Tifa, Aerith, Cid, Leon, Locke, Yuffie and Rinoa.

"Hey guys!" Sora exclaimed at the sight of his friends. "How's it going?"

"Good as ever buddy." Goofy replied.

"Can't really complain." Came Donald.

Pleasantries and introductions were passed around before everyone took their seat at the conference table.

"So, Your Majesty," Claudio began, arms folded and eyes closed. "Why exactly have you called us here?"

"Well, fellas," The Mouse King answered. "I'm not sure. The person who knows all of the information is supposed to come here soon."

"And that would be my cue." A man's voice called through the building. In a flash, the outline of a twenty-something year old man with long, spiked hair wearing a sweater, an arm cape and a pair baggy tan pants. He appeared to be a ghost, he was transparent and his outline shone with a golden nimbus. "Thank you all for being so patient as to my arrival." The man said. "My name is Terra and I must honestly say it is good to see you all again, Claudio, Rain, King Mickey, Sora, Donald, and Goofy."

"I thought you never met a 'Terra' before?" Kairi asked Sora.

"I don't. I swear I've never seen him in my life." Sora defended but Terra simply smirked.

"Oh you have," Terra replied to the Keyblade Master. "Just under a different form. One second." The nimbus around him intensified and in a flash, Terra was replaced by a man wearing a suit the colour of copper, bronze, gold and red armour, he had a helmet with a black glass visor and two fins standing from were his temples should be. "Remember me now?" The armoured knight had Terra's voice.

"YOU!!" Sora, Donald and Goofy shouted in unison. They summoned their weapons and charged Terra, passing through him and then dog piling behind the transparent warrior.

"Astral projection." Terra said. "Rather useful. Right now my body is on a Gummi Ship seven-thousand kilometres to the west of the Radiant Garden." The nimbus overtook him again and Terra now stood again without his armour.

"Sora." Riku asked. "Where have you met him before? Why did you only react after you saw his armour?"

"Because before we went to fight Xemnas, we were called back to Disney Castle." Sora explained. "When we arrived there was this portal that led to a desert where he," he pointed to Terra who waved cordially. "Was waiting for us. He said something about Xehanort and the mark he had left him and fought us. And let me say, this guy makes Xemnas look like nothing."

Terra smiled as if it was a compliment. "Please Sora, I don't need frivolous compliments. I'll get a swelled head." Terra took a seat and sat at the head of the table, reclining his legs on the table. "Now, let's get down to business. To defeat the Huns…" Everyone looked at him like he was half-insane while he laughed at his own joke. "Sorry, little Land of Dragons humour there for you."

"Get on with it mate." Claudio demanded coldly and harshly.

Terra continued to laugh but in a second his eyes changed. They flashed and became hard and steely, determined and without nonsense. His smile turned into a dark, blank, grimace and he removed his legs from the table and sat down properly. "What we are dealing with is more powerful than anything you have ever faced." He looked at Riku. "You can attest to that Riku, you were strong enough to defeat Xemnas and Roxas and yet Kaiser manhandled you like nothing." He then looked at Claudio. "You Claudio have fought five different Organization members and fought them all off with ease but you could barely inflict any damage to Kaiser as well." He made a slight twitch of his eye to Claudio who nodded slightly.

"Before I explain who you are fighting and what they plan to do I think we need to explain some more things to you." He gestured to the far wall and two beams of light shot out. In one was the hologram of a Shadow, the other, a hologram of a Dusk. "You know what these beings are before you. Heartless and Nobodies. You know how they are created, what they are born from and what their purpose is. But, as you should know, a complete being is composed of a heart, body and _soul_." He snapped and a third pillar shot up next to the Dusk. In it was one of the creatures they fought back on the Destiny Islands, a Howler. "A Nobody is formed from the body and soul of a being and sometimes takes on a human form. When it doesn't, the body can only exist for a certain period of time before the body falls into the Realm of Nothingness and the soul is left behind.

"The soul then mutates into a being that can act on its own." He gestured to the Howler. "That is what this is. It is the soul acting on its own. A Fell Soul." He then stopped and paused. "Any questions so far?"

"Why haven't we faced these Fell Souls before?" Kairi asked and everyone murmured in agreement.

"Because Princess, normally Fell Souls stay in a dimension that they carved out for themselves. They rarely leave and when they do it is only when they find someone strong to follow for they lack purpose themselves." He then sighed loudly, breathing deeply. "This proves just how much stronger the Immortals are compared to the Organization."

Riku cocked an eyebrow. "Immortals?" He questioned, and Terra nodded at the Keyblade Master of Twilight.

"Yes, the group that confronted you. They are the Immortals." He paused and made his fingers into a steeple, looking at each person in the room. "Sometimes, under extreme conditions, a Heartless and a Nobody, whether they belonged to the same person or not, can fuse their body, heart and soul together. This freak occurrence creates a creature known as an Immortal. Beings that are complete because they possess all three pieces of a whole being. But at the same time they are incomplete, they lack something that all humans possess. I'll let you discover that on your own.

"An Immortal can, in theory, live forever by feasting on the hearts of others. The first Immortal found this out and so dubbed himself such. But, when you live longer than you are meant to, you start to go mad. That is what has happened to the leader of the Immortals, he sees the world as unnecessary and undeserving of life and sees only Immortals, beings that know what it is like to lose everything, as worthy of existing. The Immortals are travelling around the universe. Why? I do not know. But I do know that they are harvesting hearts and so we need you to go around the worlds and see what havoc is being reeked."

Everyone took a moment to soak in what Terra was saying. After all there efforts to save the worlds, people still threatened them. Sora was nodding his head, analyzing what Terra had said and opened his mouth. "So we go around the worlds again and fight off whatever troubles are on them." He smiled, an unknown smile. "I think we can handle that."

Terra smiled too, but for another reason. "It's not that simple Sora." The knight told the Keyblade Master. "For this journey has another reason." He snapped his finger and two bags appeared, one in front of Sora, the other in front of Riku. Sora reached into his bag and pulled out a silver disc attached to a short silver chain. He looked querulously at the medallions.

"What are these?" Everyone was fiddling with the tiny trinkets now, getting a good look at them.

"These are Blank Keychains." Terra explained. "The basic prototype for a Keyblade Keychain. What you have to do is go around the worlds and pass these Blanks out to people, thus giving them the ability to wield Keyblades." Everyone's jaws dropped at what Terra was saying. Only four people in the known cosmos could wield Keyblades right now, and they were all in the room. They were passing out more blades? "Now, don't loose your faces there guys. These Keyblades can only be obtained when an individual has a moment of clarity and resolution so great that his or her heart opens and allows you to send the blade into their heart.

"There are only a dozen Keychains in the bags combined and only a few strong individuals will obtain the power to wield them. When there heart opens, the Keyblade may lie dormant or it may awaken there and then for the wielder to know. If the blade lies dormant, you cannot tell anyone about how they can now wield a Keyblade. If the blade becomes awakened instantly then the new wielder must join you to get a sense of the magnitude of the situation they have been thrust into."

Everyone sat in silence again; Sora was eyeing one of the Blank Keychains. They needed to go out, stop the Immortals and give a select few people Keyblades. But why? _'What possible reason could he have for giving more Keyblades?'_ He thought, spinning the Blank around and letting the sun skitter off its smooth surface.

"Terra," he voiced while sill playing with the medallion. "Why do we have to do this? Passing out Keyblades, I mean."

Terra took a moment to regard Sora with his cold, steely blue eyes. He shifted his gaze from Sora, to Riku then Kairi and Claudio, each taking a good long look at them. "Because Sora, we'll need all the Keyblade Masters we can get. We'll need them soon enough."

Terra left the last word sentence hang ominously in the air. Everyone felt uncomfortable at the presence of Terra; it was almost as in the last couple of minutes his astral projection's aura had amplified, smothering all in the room. "Now, as for groups. Donald."

"Yes." The duck said.

"Goofy."

"Sir!" The dog-faced knight replied

"And Mickey. I need you to take your Gummi Ship back to Disney Castle and hook up with me. We have other work to do." He then looked at the other five in the room. "As for you all, go adventure together. If you should acquire another Keyblade Warrior, contact me and we will deal with any needed arrangements as necessary." The gang nodded to one another and Terra stood up from his chair. "I'll let you leave at your own pace but please try to make some pace." He then saluted the group and as quickly as he appeared, vanished.

Another silence followed the knight's departure before the King spoke up. "Well, there you have it fellas." The Mouse King squeaked. "We now know what we have to do."

"Venture into the unknown." Riku repeated the mission. "Stop the Immortals."

"Pass out Keyblades." Kairi followed.

"And save the worlds again." Sora smiled, the others looking at him. "What?"

"Why are you smiling?" Rain asked.

The brunette shrugged. "Every time I have had to adventure I was separated from my friends but not now." He put an arm around Riku and Kairi. "Now I get to be alongside them for the way." Sora laughed cheerfully, smiling all the while. "No more worrying, no more."

Claudio had closed his eyes to the meeting a while ago but he still had his faculties about him. "But it still is rather daunting if you ask me."

"Scared?" Riku taunted and Claudio snorted in response. "Passing out Keyblades." The white haired boy mused. "'We'll need all the Keyblade Masters we can get.' What could he mean by that?"

"War." Sora whispered. Riku shot a look at him. "Something I heard in a dream."

"If it was just a dream then it's just a dream." Kairi reassured him. "But what else could we need a dozen more Keyblade Masters?"

"Very few things Princess," Claudio answered, his eyes still closed. "Sora may have the right of it. And if it does come to war, well then-" Claudio stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes shot opened. They narrowed and focused on what he had just felt."

"What? Claudio?" Sora asked the warrior, shaking him.

"Heartless." He said quickly.

"'And if it does come to war, well then Heartless?' That doesn't make any sense."

"No! I can feel them. Nobodies too!"

"Where?" Leon asked.

"Near here, on the other side of the postern gates." He scooped up his blade and led the others out the meeting room and towards the enemy threat.

**To Be Continued**

_And so the plot thickens. And so Terra reveals himself. And so new Final Fantasy characters make cameos! Expect a few more throughout the story, from sources you would expect like Final Fantasies VII, VIII, and X but also from other sources like VI (as evident with Locke) and XII._

_I'll be making sporadic journal entries on certain character throughout the story, but the main characters and Immortals will have profiles posted on my profile._

_(A/N1) Terra discussed more of the journery with Claudio and Rain off page in the hotel at Twlight Town._

Journal Set #1:

Locke Cole

A new member to the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee, Lock acts as a recon man and the crew's street eyes. He was once a thief and still is at heart but, like fellow Committee member Yuffie, prefers the title "Treasure Hunter." Lock first hunted for "Treasure" in Final Fantasy VI, 1994.

Rinoa Heartilly

The other new member to the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee, Rinoa is a kind-hearted girl who does all she is asked in order to restore her once beautiful homeland. She is romantically involved with Leon and is the only person able to call him 'Squall'. Rinoa was originally Squall's love interest in Final Fantasy VIII, 1999.

_Please Review. _

_Angelo._


	9. The Rolling Barrage ACT 2

_Angelo: Random generic disclaimer for a fan fiction…give me reviews or I will find a way to stretch my arm through the internet and bash your head against the keyboard…random generic disclaimer for a fan fiction…_

Chapter 9: The Rolling Barrage ACT 2

With Claudio leading the pack, Rain, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, King Mickey, Locke, Yuffie and Leon darted from the base to the postern gate that lead to the castle and the secret corridors that lead to Ansem's Lab and the secret catacombs underneath the castle. By the time they had arrived the Heartless and Nobodies were in great numbers, swarming around the gate and trying to make it into town.

"Cid!" Leon ordered into a walkie-talkie. "I need you to close the gates at the postern immediately." Cid obliged and two iron portcullises rose up to block the enemy advance into town. The heroes drew their weapons, Leon drawing his Gunblade, Yuffie her shuriken and Lock a series of throwing daggers in one hand and a rapier in the other.

The Heartless were rather typical breeds you would find. Soldiers and Shadows numerous amongst them in addition to Wyverns, Defenders, Wizards, Bookmasters, Morningstars and Neo Shadows. The Nobodies consisted of several Gamblers, Dancers, Dusks and Creepers. There was a new breed of Nobody as well. They had a pale purple skin hue with copper and silver armour at various places. They wore what looked like an open silver cloak and a helmet that extended back (just like some professional bikers do). They floated above the ground, hands in prayer, with two small golden rings hovering around them. These were the Blue Mages.

The battle ensued almost instantly with the warriors of light cutting down the Heartless and Nobodies in quick order. The problem was that the opposition was spawning in waves; cut down one and two more would take its place. But the addition of Leon, Yuffie and Locke was definitely welcomed.

Both Locke and Yuffie were staying at the edge of the battle, tossing their projectiles with insane accuracy at the dark beings, not killing them instantly, but rather wounding and harrying them. Yuffie seemed to have an endless supply of her tiny shurikens and her giant, boomerang-like shuriken. Locke, though, had a tiny amount of his knives but when he ran out of the daggers in his belt, the brash "treasure hunter" (and I use that term loosely) ran towards the fray and leapt into the air. He flicked his wrist and eight daggers flicked up into the space between his fingers. He spun around and tossed them, reloading after each round. They flew fast and cleaved through the Heartless and Nobodies rather quickly. When he ran out of blades, he darted into melee combat with his rapier, flashing and whirling through the onslaught of foes.

Leon chose to match brawn with brawn, hacking down any enemy in his way with his Gunblade. At every strike, he would strategically press down the trigger and release a supplementary shockwave to add another element of destruction. Any enemy trying to be smart and retreat from the killing machine would get a taste of Leon's No Mercy fire blast.

Riku was eschewing his dark techs and sticking with pure swordsmanship. Slicing and dicing all in his way, Riku performed at a rate greater than Leon. He quickly used his rapid thrust Stinger to kill off two Gamblers and then darted towards a group of Dancers, sideswiping the Heartless near his path. Before meeting the Dancers, he leapt into the air and crashed down on them with a Helm Splitter. He felt a snag by his leg as one of them hooked his ankle with one of bandages and was about to take him for a ride. As it swung him about, he quickly cut the tendril off and then impaled the Dancer through the head.

Mickey, Donald and Goofy showed off their exemplary teamwork, hurling shields, slicing Keyblades and bursts of magic pampered the air as they fought. By themselves, Donald and Goofy couldn't do much but teamed with Mickey they acted as one, well-oiled fighting force, destroying most anything in their path.

Rain slashed away with her graceful, swift style of fighting, tearing at anything in her way with an unnatural and lithe grace. At the first sign of an absence of enemies, she warped away to a new part of the battle and continued her dance of death. A Morningstar leapt from the corner of the battlefield, planning to flatten Rain. She sprang backwards but the bulbous Heartless jumped up again. "7 Rose Draw, No. 1!" The energy lash extended from her free hand, hooking the airborne Heartless. She swung it around like a flail, trashing anything unlucky enough to get in her way before colliding it and another Morningstar together, both of them exploding into darkness on impact.

Kairi and Sora both proved that they had no difficulty with the enemies, leaping and charging, striking and slashing at anything in range of their blades. Claudio was probably having the easiest time; he pretty much hadn't moved the entire fight, shooting anything he wanted and slashing at those too stupid to stay a safe distance from him. In the end, only three Blue Mages remained.

Kairi was the first to challenge them. She fired a Fira spell at it but one of its rings moved in front of it. The flame jet was trapped in the ring and then fired back at the redheaded Keyblade Master.

"Waterga!" Claudio called, a geyser of water appearing in front of Kairi and taking in the deflected jet, turning it into steam on contact.

Sora and Donald were next, casting twin Thundaga spells at the Nobodies. The rings absorbed the bolts of lightning and then shot back at the duck and Sora, shocking them with their own magic.

"Ow!" The duck mage cursed. "Now I know how all those Heartless felt!"

"Yeah," agreed Sora, rubbing some life back into his shoulder. "That hurt."

"It seems those Nobodies can absorb magic." Mickey analyzed. "It seems we need to take them down the old fashion way." He gripped his Keyblade.

"A wonderful notion," came Claudio, behind the mouse king. "But they can take quite a few hits before going down."

"Split them up and deal with them one-on-one!" Riku cried, he charged on of the Mages as did Claudio and Mickey. The others were disposed of now as more Heartless were appearing.

Mickey dodged a spinning ring from his Blue Mage as well as some twilight energy blasts. Mickey began cutting at the Nobody but it used its rings to deflect most of the blows while any cut that hit only glanced off the armour. After dodging both rings, Mickey rolled behind it and cast Pearl. The orb of light flew at the Nobody slowly. It tried to absorb it but the sphere hit home and the Nobody was obliterated.

Leaping over a hurled disc, Riku ran back into the fight, knocking away the second disc as it neared him. The armour the Blue Mage wore proved a little too much for even Way to the Dawn to scratch. Riku hit desperation mode and called out, "Dark Thundaga!" A ray of black and purple lightning flew from his palm and hit the ground, creating a shockwave that tore through the Nobody like it was paper.

Claudio stared coolly at his enemy, waiting for the right time. The enemy charged as he cricked his neck, he quickly cut the first ring thrown in two and then stuck his gun out. "Prism Chain Arts, Blasting Style: Charged Shot." A red, high-powered bullet escaped the barrel and drilled through the head of the Blue Mage, sending it back to the realm of Nothingness.

Claudio twirled Low Cut on his index finger and blew the smoke from the barrel. "Okay then. Squall, call Cid and lower the portcullis, we got a mission to do." Leon did as he was bid, scowling at the warrior for his orders. Claudio dusted off his hands and looked at group. "Seems are enemies will be trying to stop us at any turn."

"Well, we'll stop them!" Sora said confidently, driving a fist on his chest.

"Easy there cowboy," Riku chided. "I don't think that we're done here just yet."

Riku was right, two dark portals were forming on the ground and two Heartless rose from them. They were gigantic beasts, easily breaking eight feet in coal black shogun armour. They had stubby square heads with yellow eyes extended from them. Each one held a large octagonal bat in their right hands. These were the Gemini Reapers, two massive beasts that work cohesively to defeat foes.

"Oh, man…" Sora whined. Claudio grinned fiercely and revved High Streak.

"Ah, a challenge." He mused. "And just when I was getting bored."

Rain stood next to him and smiled. "Maybe your luck is starting to turn around?"

"Not likely." He shot back. Riku stood next to the couple and Sora followed.

"Stop the bickering you two." Riku said.

"Yeah, we have work to do." Sora added as the left Reaper lifted its large bat and tried to bring it down on Sora.

"Leon!" Squawked Cid through the walkie-talkie, "we got a problem!"

"What kind of problem?"

"The Heartless! They're in the bailey! Rinoa, Tifa and Aerith have gone down to check it out but I think they need back up!"

"We'll be on our way!" He hung up the walkie and looked to Yuffie and Locke. "We got to get moving." They nodded and Leon turned to Sora. "Sorry about abandoning you guys, but we have to protect the town."

"Don't worry about it." Sora returned. "We understand. Take care of the town. We'll handle these two and be over to help out soon enough." Leon grinned, shouldered his Gunblade and ran down the postern trail, following Locke and Yuffie.

The remaining warriors charged the Gemini Reapers but the right Reaper swung its club low to the ground. Jumping and sliding past it, they continued the assault but were met again by the club of the left Reaper. It hammered the head of its club on the ground and created a shockwave, stalling them again.

"Strike Raid!" Sora hurled his Keyblade, followed by Goofy's shield and Kairi's blade. The right Reaper simply swept them away with a swat of the club and tried to step on the hero's but they avoided the armoured boot.

"Dark Barrage!" Riku fired a series of black bolts at the Heartless.

"Prism Chain Arts, Blizzaga Style: Diamond Burst!" Claudio punched the air and an ice crystal zipped from the clenched fist towards the left Reaper.

"7 Rose Draw No.3: Spirit Bomb!" Rain fired the roaring spirit flames at the Heartless.

Standing by its brethren, the left Reaper took the brunt of all three strikes and didn't even flinch.

"What's going on?" Donald cried in frustration.

"I know." Mickey added, "All our attacks seem to be ineffective."

"We need to separate them." Riku suggested, dodging a thrust from the left Reaper.

"Easy said, mate." Claudio called back, firing his pistol at the right Reaper, the bullets harmlessly skittering off its armour. "But how do we exactly do it?"

The left Reaper stabbed the club at Rain who countered the thrust with a Buster. She wrenched the club from its hand and swung it around, knocking the Reaper with its own weapon. She hurled the bat back to the Heartless, sending it flying away from its brethren.

"Does that do it for you?" Sora asked and Claudio leered but he had to agree, that worked nicely. "Okay, Claudio, Rain, Riku take the down one. Everyone else, with me!"

_He's definitely a strong leader,_ Claudio thought. _Is that what the Princess sees in him? I wonder…_

Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kairi and King Mickey darted to the still standing Reaper and launched their strikes at it instantly. Kairi, Sora and Goofy threw their weapons at the giant, Donald cast Thundaga and Mickey used Pearl. The barrage was enough to stagger the behemoth but not down it. It used another low strike with its club and as the heroes jumped to avoid it, the Heartless used a palm thrust, forcing the wind into a gust that tossed the five warriors around.

Sora groaned as he recovered from the fall. "We need a new plan." He looked over to Goofy and a light bulb went off in his head. "Goofy! Give me strength!"

Goofy dissipated in a veil of light and entered Sora, whose clothes began to glow with a bright red light. In an instance his normal black clothes were red and had fleur-de-lis flowers on his pant legs. He was surrounded in an aura of red energy and instead of wielding Ultima Weapon; he now gripped the Sleeping Lion and Guardian Soul Keyblades.

Valour Sora charged the Heartless and nimbly dodged all its strikes with enhanced speed and agility. He sped past a shockwave attack and went to its legs, striking with rapid precision, trying to cut the redwood down from the base. He leapt back and spun his Keyblades around, bringing them crashing into the earth.

"Valour Beat!"

A red shockwave erupted from his Keyblade's heads and the Heartless was forced to kneel. Sora then began to dash around again, this time running up the bat of the Reaper, leaping off its shoulders and then darting around again, cutting everywhere he went. He reappeared behind the Heartless and enveloped himself in a burning red aura.

"Valiant End!"

He rocketed towards the Heartless and with a massive double strike, cut it down. The beast fell into pieces and vanished into darkness, a crystalline heart rising into the sky. Valour Sora then fell to one knee and De-Fused back into his normal form, breathing heavily.

"Wow," he panted. "Haven't done that in a while."

Meanwhile, Riku and Claudio were dealing with the left Reaper, Rain choosing to stand at the sidelines at Claudio's behest. Most of the attacks that Riku and Claudio unleashed did little to nothing against the monster but they weren't finished.

"Prism Chain Arts, Blasting Style: Charged Shot!" He fired off the charged shot from his gun and watched it bounce off its armour.

"Dark Firaga!" Riku launched a dark fireball at the Reaper but it, again, did nothing.

"Hey Riku," Claudio asked, firing shots from his pistol at the Heartless. "Do you have a form of dark Blizzard magic?" The white hair warrior nodded. "Use it."

Riku looked at Claudio for a second, if all his other dark techs did nothing then why would his Dark Blizzaga do anything? He then figured it out: to weaken its metal armour. He charged up the Keyblade and fired a purple energy wave to the Heartless. At the point of collision, the wave spread out into a sheet of purple ice, freezing the majority of the right side of its body. Claudio smiled at the result of the attack.

"Nice job kid," he gloated. He was revving his blade, the energy around it turning a violent red. "Now, let me show you how a man takes on a Heartless." He ran his hand across the blade and enwrapped the sword in black and crimson energy. "Prism Chain Arts, Finisher Style: Hell's Butterfly!"

He reared backwards and swung the blade, a black and red energy wave flying from it. The wave had an energy trail that descended into small black swallowtail butterflies. The blade beam pierced the ice encased armour and in cut through the Heartless with a massive energy slice. The beast was broken in two as it fell apart, falling back into darkness.

Claudio hefted his blade onto his shoulder and smiled in victory. "What did I tell you?" He laughed loudly and walked back to the group. "The Heartless are finished, the town is saved and now, let's get going. I believe we have a journey to do!"

"Right," Sora said silently, "the journey." He looked down to the leather sack of Blank Keychains and thought back to Terra's words and his dream considering the cloaked knight.

_There is a lot of things working here. That knight in my dream has something to do with this all. I'm beginning to think that Terra is letting on more than he knows. But then again, what's new?_

"Sora!" Riku yelled at his friend. The Keyblade Master snapped out from his daze.

"Anything wrong, Sora?" Donald asked in his garbled voice.

"No, just thinking." Sora replied.

"Really, 'cause you were lookin' all spaced out and stuff." Goofy told his friend but he simply shook his head.

"No, really, I'm fine." Sora ran up to the postern road. "Come on guys! We got to get going."

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave just yet," a voice called out from above them. "Or ever in fact. This postern will become your graves."

_No, not him._ Claudio thought in panic. He looked over to Rain and they both met with concerned eyes.

High above our hero's heads an Immortal stood on a tower extending from the postern. He wore a tattered white cloak worn loose over his shoulder with a high hood and underneath it a ratty looking outfit and a body suit under that with taped up fists and feet. He leapt deftly from the tower down to the postern, landing in front of the heroes with a loud ruffle from his cape.

"An Immortal!" Sora yelled, Keyblade drawn again. Everyone was quick to take a fighting stance against this new enemy.

"Correct," the cloaked Immortal replied. He reached up to his hood and pulled it down to reveal his face. He had very tan skin, like Xehanort and his ilk, he was completely bald, his scalp covered in scars, and his eyes were such a pale blue they were almost white. The body suit came up and covered everything on his face below his nose. "I am to succeed where Kaiser failed. And that is killing you and taking your hearts. I am the Eighth Ranked Immortal, Ramziel," he held up his hand and a white orb filled his hand, "and I will be your death." The orb burst into a massive scythe with a serrated blade.

"You're free to try!" Donald challenged. Ruffling his feathers, he fired a set of spells at Ramziel who dodged each one with amazing speed. He was a clear two feet away from where the spell was aimed by the time it made contact with anything. "WHAA!"

"Don't overestimate your abilities." He charged in a blaze of speed and smacked the court wizard away with a swipe from the butt of his scythe. "Or underestimate mine!"

He vanished into thin air and reappeared behind Claudio, Rain and Riku. They quickly dodged the scythe slash but by the time they were ready to strike, Ramziel had teleported away, again.

This time he came charging from the other end of the postern at King Mickey, whirling his sickle at the mouse King. Mickey dodged the strikes with amazing agility but Ramziel moved to fast for him to counter. But, as soon as Ramziel's attack began, it was stopped.

Sora had hurled the Keyblade at Ramziel, sending the Immortal skidding away. He then called Goofy over and they began their attack. Sora knocked Goofy's shield like a golf ball at Ramziel. They performed this attack multiple times but each time the shield went careening towards him, the Immortal blocked the attack with the haft of his sickle. Sora and Goofy then tossed their weapons at Ramziel in a synchronized shot. Ramziel was ready and kicked then into the air to stop their advance and then knocked the weapons back to the knight and Keyblade Master.

_He stopped a Limit!_ Sora was totally startled. During all his adventures, no one he had faced had ever blocked a Limit attack, let alone Knock-Smash, one of the strongest Limits he had.

Ramziel charged in between Goofy and Sora and used his scythe to pivot on, knocking both away. He swung his scythe in a wide arc at Sora who managed to block each strike at the last moment. Ramziel was a strong enemy; very few people Sora had ever fought could match strength with the bald Immortal. In the end Sora had blocked each sickle strike and the two were at a standstill.

"It seems that Kaiser wasn't completely at fault on the Islands," Ramziel contemplated aloud. "You do have some merit in combat. But that merit won't get you much farther than here!"

Ramziel began to levitate in the air as his body coursed with dark energy. He cried out as energy spirits trailed off him in wide spirals, creating explosions and dust clouds as they hit the postern's floor. The hero's tried to dodge but the dust soon blinded them and they were forced to weather the strike.

When the smoke settled, Ramziel was gone and everyone was scattered wide about the postern. Before they could regroup, Ramziel cackled in the air and came charging down out of the air, twirling his scythe. His path led to no one specific but in a second he teleported away. Everyone looked wildly around for the bald enemy.

When he came back into the postern, he was charging, scythe a spiralling, towards Kairi. He appeared so suddenly and close to her that no one could react fast enough. In fear, she brought up her Keyblade and closed her eyes, afraid that this was the end.

Instead of the soft _squelch_ of a blade entering flesh there were two loud metallic _clangs_ and a series of metallic _rattles_. She opened her eyes and saw that Rain and Claudio were standing in front of her, blocking the sickle with High Streak and Scarlet Queen. Rain had grabbed onto Claudio and used her teleportation skill to get them in between Ramziel and Kairi.

"Rain, now!" Claudio ordered and she used her first Draw to send Ramziel into the postern tower. "Prism Chain Arts, Striking Style: Sword Pressure!" He sent the blade beam to Ramziel who, in an act defying gravity, rolled across the tower and still held on. Claudio ran up the tower to meet Ramziel who leapt off it into the sky.

"Prism Chain Arts, Aerial Style: Jet Ripper!" Claudio began to rotate vertically like a saw and charged towards the Immortal, energy streaking around him and his blade. Ramziel spun horizontally to counter the strike and both men were pushed back in the air. Fireballs streaked from the ground to collide with Ramziel, courtesy of Donald and Sora. Claudio then launched himself towards his enemy and struck him with a series of strong kicks that hurtled Ramziel to the ground.

He landed like a cat but was too late to see Sora and Riku charging towards him, Keyblades drawn. Sora hammered him in the chest and Riku hamstrung him, sending their foe flying away in pain.

Ramziel smiled as he lurched up in pain. "Well, it seems like you will move onward in your journey. But how much further until your hearts are offered to The End? It's only a matter of time." And then Ramziel faded away like Kaiser had done earlier in the day.

The eight warriors looked to one another as he vanished. No one was hurt, Kairi was a little shook up but everyone was okay. Well, okay if you ignore the fact that they had been attacked twice in one day by an uber powerful enemy that was dead set on killing them all.

"I think we better get going guys." Sora announced to the team. "Now."

**KHKHKH**

Ramziel reappeared on the rooftop of the castle. He sat down and caught his breath from the short battle he'd just fought.

"Well, well, well," a sneering voice rang out from behind him. Kaiser. "Looks like Ramziel had a little scuffle with the Keyblade losers."

"I admit Kaiser," Ramziel said, "They were more powerful than I thought." He then took a moment to think back on the battle. "Particularly the man and woman who blocked the attack that would have killed the Princess. They feel familiar for a reason." He then noticed Kaiser had closed his eyes and wasn't paying attention. "Kaiser? Kaiser!"

His eyes flitted open. "We have a meeting." He said.

"When?"

"Right now." Kaiser vanished away and Ramziel soon followed his comrade.

**To Be Continued**

_Wow, those Immortals don't mess around. Next chapter will be less action, more talk, will have four perspectives, introduce us to new characters and re-introduce us to old characters._

_I've been behind on my updates because the past week has been rather hectic and my schedule looks kind of hectic up until the twentieth when I finish exams._

Journal Set #2

Blue Mage

Nobodies that wear strong armour and are surrounded by rings. They have a strong defence so magic looks like a very good option but they can absorb and redirect most magical attacks. Zexion once controlled these Nobodies.

Ramziel

The Eighth Ranked Immortal, Ramziel is a cold and calculating enemy. He appeared at the Radiant Garden, trying to eliminate the hero's but was stopped by the combined efforts of Rain, Claudio, Sora and Riku after a short struggle. He wields a scythe into battle as well as inhuman strength, speed, teleportation and manipulation of spirit energy.

Kaiser

The Third Ranked Immortal, Kaiser treats life like a hunt where he is predator and everyone else is the prey. He appeared on the Destiny Islands, striking against Riku and Claudio and being able to hold his own ground against them before taunting them and leaving. Kaiser has a blade at his side but he doesn't use it often, he also possesses the ability to create sound waves by roaring, can fire off energy darts and sickles and has animalistic strength and speed.

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	10. Darkside of the Story

_Angelo: Okay, you know the drill…_

_Cage: Do you really have to do this anymore? I mean this is a website made specifically for Fan-Fiction. They kind of, y'know…expect you to use other, pre-existing material to write your fiction._

_Angelo: You're right! Why do I even write these little interludes at the beginning anyways?_

_Cage: To bump up the word count?_

Chapter 10: Darkside of the Story

Following the rough morning that the group had been suffering, they thought it best to take it slow to the next world, relax, and go down in the morning. The Gummi Ship roamed through the emptiness of Inter-Space at half speed at around nine thirty at night. Sora and Kairi had retreated to their respected rooms while Claudio, Rain and Riku played cards in the galley. Rain was winning by a wide margin.

She showed no emotion as they looked at her two cards and the community cards. Three community cards were out, the nine-of-clubs, the queen-of-hearts and the ten-of-hearts. Rain had the queen-of-spades and the ten-of-spades. Claudio scowled. He could be as cool a customer as Rain but Lady Luck never gave him her favour during any sort of game of luck. He took one small solace in the fact that Riku was doing worse than he was.

"I raise twenty munny." Claudio said simply. Throwing two chips into the pile. Riku tossed his cards aside, folding while Rain placed four chips into the pile.

"I see your twenty," she smiled innocently at him. "And raise you twenty more."

Claudio mumbled something as she continued to smile and tossed the other two chips into the pile. Riku took the top card and used it as a burned card and then flipped over the next card, the six-of-diamonds.

"So," Claudio said while fiddling with his chips and cards. "Riku, my white-haired buddy that I've known since yesterday afternoon, what can you tell me about Sora and Kairi?" He tapped his hand on the table, singling he was passing.

Riku looked oddly at the suddenness of the question. "Why? What do you want to know? Are you interested in her?"

He flashed him his wedding ring and then pointed to Rain. She passed as well. Riku slipped off another burn card and then added the nine-of-hearts to the pool.

"If you must know," Claudio answered. "I'm taking it upon myself to check upon every suitor that Miss Kairi may have." He smiled nobly. "I mean, the girl has no parents and has the ex-bodyguard of her family, I think I owe it to her and her family to do this."

"Sure buddy, keep saying that." He replied sardonically. "The thing with Sora and Kairi…well, ever since she arrived to the Islands, Sora has always been trying to impress her. He thinks he was really suave at this, all sly and stuff but it was so painfully obvious. He doesn't know that we know though." Claudio chuckled to himself about the boneheaded Keyblade Master. "Anyway, Kairi really is the only one who doesn't know about his…advances.

"On the subject of Kairi…she's as clueless as Sora is when it comes to this love stuff. She can't see that he is head-over-heels in love with her, when she tries to flirts she fails miserably and when she tries to be serious, it comes off at these really bad attempts at flirting." Claudio once again stifled a chuckle. If only the King and Queen could see their darling daughter now. "Both of them are madly in love with each other but can't see the other's feelings. Also, when they try to be smooth and cool, it comes off so obvious that you would have to be blind and deaf not to see their feelings for each other. Hell, I don't think that they have admitted their feelings to themselves yet."

Claudio nodded as he took in the information. By this point he had put in all his Munny into the pot and Rain had matched, chip for chip. They overturned their cards and Claudio smiled. Lady Luck was finally smiling down on him.

"Full House. Nines full of Queens." He stated, looking at Rain's two pair. He dragged the chips to his side of the table. Nine hundred Munny chips now on his side. He smiled as he counted his cash and walked away from the table, scrawling Rain and Riku's debts in his black book. "Now, my white haired friend, please tell me what you're relationship with the Princess is, if you'll be so kind."

"Long time ago, I think Kairi had a crush on me when she first arrived. I did too but I soon saw that her and Sora were rather made for each other and so I backed away. I wanted them to have a future together and still do. They're my friends and I'd do anything to protect them and there budding relationship." He stopped, not wanting to mention the motivation for this.

"Interesting…" Claudio mumbled absent-minded in a way but he was deep in thought. _I hope for their sake you can keep that oath of protection, mate._

"Say, Claudio," Riku began. "Why did you want to know that stuff about Kairi and Sora?" Claudio turned to the Keyblade Master. "It's kind of suspicious in all. A married man trying to figure out the dating life of two teenagers."

"Me?" He smiled innocently, like a little kid that had been found sneaking cookies from the kitchen. "I just like to know about my ship mates when I travel." He smiled again and then walked back to his room, spinning the chips around his knuckles and singing.

_"Munny, munny, yeah, yeah. Munny, munny, yeah, yeah!"_

Riku looked at his curiously once again. He may have trusted Claudio slightly more than this morning because of how he acted in the battles against Kaiser and Ramziel but he was still the strangest, most enigmatic member of the ship. His wife, Rain, was much more tame and normal than he was but even that normalcy she possessed unsettled him. The two were hiding something, he was sure of it, but he couldn't put his finger on it hard as he tried. Maybe he was making it up. Trying to see something that wasn't there because of his past experiences with mysterious strangers. Kairi seemed to trust them, and she had the best head of the three of them. He kept thinking of all this as he went to his room to rest, his body aching slightly from his clash with Kaiser.

As he went to sleep a familiar feeling overtook his being. He only got this feeling right before something big happened. He got this feeling when he captured Roxas, when he reunited with his friends at The World That Never Was and when they received the recent message from the King. He knew this feeling and hated it.

Something bad was going to happen and something good was going to happen.

The bad always outweighed the good.

**KHKHKH**

Sora, meanwhile, was sitting in his room, lying on his bed just thinking. What he was thinking about was just random stuff, anything that flitted into his mind. But no matter what he thought of: school, the Heartless, his old adventures, the Disney and Radiant Warriors, the Organization, the Immortals, Claudio and Rain, anything that came to his mind would always could straight back to Kairi.

His mind constantly focused on her and he strained to change it back to a different topic, but no. Kairi. That was all his mind seemed to care about now. Kairi. Her radiant smile, her beautiful hair, even her perfume, an ambrosia of vanilla, honey and tropical flowers. He didn't know why it was like this but it was and it was driving him nuts. Never on any of his adventures had he been so fixated on Kairi for such a constant period of time; or anyone or anything for that matter. Frankly, it was infuriating.

He growled loudly as he slammed a pillow on his face. "Come on! What's wrong with me?"

"_Quiet down you!"_ A voice rang inside Sora's head it was all too familiar. _"I'm trying to get some sleep in here!"_

"Oh crap," Sora muttered. Anytime this voice spoke to him, it always got annoying fast. The voice belonged to his Nobody, Roxas. "What do you want Roxas?"

_"What did I just tell you? I want you to shut up!"_ The Nobody ordered. _"I'm trying to relax in my private bachelor pad!"_

"You mean my head?" Sora deadpanned. Roxas' laughter rang through his head.

_"Funny Sora, funny."_ Roxas then separated from Sora, appearing as a transparent spirit. He took a look at Sora's face, the angry scowl on it. _"What's up now? The Immortals bugging you that much?"_

"No, it isn't that." Sora turned away, he didn't really want to own up to what he feared was true. "It's just…"

_"Just what?"_ Sora avoided the blonde Nobody's eye contact and Roxas smirked. _"Reminding you now that I live in your head. So you can tell me or I can pop back in there and rip the information out of your head in the most painful and excruciating manner I can devise."_ He smirked threateningly at his Somebody and Sora nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Well, earlier today when we were fighting on the Islands I was watching Kairi fighting, constantly." He admitted slowly and hesitantly. "Even when I was battling the Heartless, when I should have been paying attention to my enemies, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Got some pretty nasty scratches because of it." Roxas stifled a laugh but Sora continued. "I don't know if I was worried about her, or if I wanted to see how good she was at fighting or maybe it was because she made fighting a work of art. It was like a dance, so beautiful…

"And then when we reached the Radiant Garden and we fought Ramziel, well when she was about to be struck and Claudio and Rain saved her, well my heart was trapped in my throat for a second, I couldn't breath. I mean, all that time I spent travelling the universe I was worried about her but this was the first time I saw that she was in actual danger and it nearly killed me.

"And now, now I just can't get her out of my head!" He but his hands on his head and shook wildly. "I don't understand, no one has had any sort of affect on me before! It's maddening; she's just stuck in there. Any waking moment I'm not spending saving the world, she's in my head. And not just her, everything _about_ her! Her face, her smile, her hair, her smell…what's wrong with me?" Roxas had a grin on his face that extended from ear to ear, that sort of 'You're a dunce for not knowing what's going on and deserve to get punched upside the face' smile your friends get when you miss something really obvious.

"What's so funny?" Sora was getting freaked out by the Nobody's grin.

_"Isn't it obvious you dunce?"_ Sora raised an eyebrow and Roxas slapped himself on his forehead. _"About Kairi I mean?"_ Sora shook his head and Roxas rolled his eyes. _"You're in _love_ you loser. And not just a stupid schoolyard crush but and actual, factual, totally smitten, physically, emotionally and mentally, head-over-heels, would-do-anything-for-her… love."_ He smiled and Sora looked at him with a dead face.

"Crap." He muttered and fell back on his bed. "Crap!" He said again, louder. "CRAP!" He swore loudly.

_"What's wrong now you fruitcake?"_ The Nobody fell back on the bed to join his Somebody. _"It's love, it's a beautiful thing. I'm in love with Namine, I admit it, and every moment I get I spend with her. Couldn't be happier."_

"Well, I know I should be happy but…" He once again avoided eye contact with Roxas, who of course had much better intuition than he did. "Kairi, she's a princess! How do I date her! If she still lived on the Garden she would probably have a line of Princes and nobles outside her door waiting for her. And then there's her father! Holy crap, that guy is a psychopath! If I had a choice between facing him and fighting Xemnas, well, point me to the Realm of Nothingness! And now Claudio and Rain. She's okay but Claudio…he's seems like the kind of guy that if you look at Kairi the wrong way he'd rip off your arm and beat you to death with it."

Roxas sighed loudly. _"You can fight off an Organization of powerful non-beings but you're afraid of asking a girl out because of her birth, her parents and two strangers who popped out of nowhere yesterday?"_ Sora nodded quickly and Roxas sighed again, louder. _"What's wrong with you?"_

"It's not just that. If it was just that, it wouldn't be a huge problem but there's more. Kairi is my friend. She has been my friend for ten years. Her, Riku, and me we're the best friends you could imagine. I don't know what her reaction would be if I asked her out. What if she doesn't like me that way? It could ruin our friendship! How weird would it be for her to hang out with a guy who is madly in love with her?"

Roxas looked at Sora quizzically for a second before bursting into laughter. "What's so funny?" The brunette demanded from his Nobody.

_"You, you idiot!"_ Roxas shot back, pointing at Sora. _"You have no idea how Kairi feels about you do you? She loves you, dude. She flipping _loves_ you. She is so madly in love with you she pretty much can't see straight. I can't believe you couldn't see that, it's so freaking obvious!"_ Roxas began laughing again, grabbing his sides in pain from the laughter.

"Wait a minute!" Sora shook his head in confusion. "She _loves_ me? Kairi _loves_ me? We are talking about the same Kairi right?"

_"Long red hair, big blue eyes, Princess of Heart, chosen wielder of the Keyblade, sweet disposition? Yeah, same Kairi."_

"Wait, how do you know this stuff?"

_"Namine."_ Roxas answered simply. _"She and I get to talk and she knows this stuff from Kairi's subconscious."_

Sora sighed and sat up from his bed. "Well, I guess I better tell her about my feelings." He was about to leave the room when Roxas jumped in front of him, waving his arms.

_"Wow, hold on their cowboy! You can't just run into her room and tell her you love her. You have to wait for the opportune moment."_

"'Opportune moment?' You've been listening to Captain Jack Sparrow to much." Roxas pushed his other back to the bed and sat on a nearby chair.

_"Look,"_ the blonde said calmly. _"You can't just go rushing into her room in the middle of the night with this big revelation. What if she's like in her nightgown or something? What if she's naked?"_ Sora blushed just at the thought. _"Exactly. If you walk on her naked then she won't care if you love her. She'll just slap you or kick you where the sun don't shine."_

"Which one?" Sora asked hesitantly.

_"If you see her back, slap. See her side, two slaps…maybe a low blow. Full front with no towel, well, you'll be singing castrati."_ Roxas chuckled and Sora eyed him nervously. _"Look, just wait and bide your time. The right time will pass you by soon enough and when it does you'll know it. Trust me, I learned from the best."_

"And who's that?"

_"Axel."_ Roxas said. _"Got it memorized?"_ And then the blonde faded back into Sora's body, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

**KHKHKH**

Meanwhile, far across the universe, the Castle That Never Was still stood. Where it was once the place of an epic final battle, it was now just a castle standing over a lifeless city overridden with Heartless. But now, things were changing. Right before the final fight, our heroes were defended from an onslaught of Heartless by two unlikely allies. Pete and Maleficent. Two enemies they had waged life and death war upon in the past had helped them proceed onwards to Xemnas but with their own agenda…

The castle was now no longer pure white and covered in Organization symbols. The walls had become a faded off-white, the Organization symbols replaced by Heartless symbols and massive growths of pitch black thorns growing all over the place.

The castle now truly belonged to Maleficent in both form and name.

Since overtaking the former base of the Nobodies, Maleficent had busied herself and Pete in scouring the universe to find new villains to fill her cabal. New, better, more suitable allies than the buffoons she had associated with in the past. Jafar, Ursula, Oogie Boogie, Captain Barbossa, Hades, all of them had failed her in the past, but that was about to change…

She sat in the circular room that had once been the Organization's meeting room. She sat on the towering throne that had once belonged to Xemnas, now ink black and covered in thorns. Pete sat opposite of her on the other throne while several black braziers floated in the air.

Maleficent smiled at the set-up and hammered her staff on the arm of her throne. "I now convene this meeting into order!" Her voice boomed throughout the room.

One-by-one, the braziers shot out emerald flames. In each flames were the silhouette of one of her cabal members.

"It is a pleasure to see you once again, Maleficent." Said a man with a wiry moustache, a monocle and a top hat.

"We are honoured to have been selected into your fold." Said a woman with a haunting, unearthly sort of beauty in a black veil.

"Now, I believe it is time to get down to business." Said a muscular young man black hair tied back into a ponytail.

"Yeah, so you bubs better listen up to Maleficent if you know what's good for you." Pete voiced to the council.

"Silence!" A young man with an almond shaped face, black eyes, black hair and a turban with a ruby at its peak. "I do not care if you have seniority, I won't listen to your purposeless rambling."

"Dumb noobie," Pete muttered.

"Silence!" Maleficent screeched and her council feel silent in an instant. "Now, we are here for one purpose: and that is to capture the Princesses of Heart and unlock Kingdom Hearts. We have tried for this goal several times before but this time, I promise that we shall not fail. But I need all of your cooperation."

"None may live on my world, but the _Dutchman_ and her crew will be at your service." Came a man who had what looked like a squid for a head and a pirate hat. He spoke with a distinct Scottish accent.

"Please!" Said the man with the top hat. "My magical train can easily outrace that piece of driftwood you call a ship, Jones."

"How about I feed you to the Kraken, Dark?"

"Enough!" Maleficent boomed again. "Mr. Dark, Mr. Jones, I need both of you to use your vessels to travel the worlds and capture the Princesses, the same goes for you Morgan, and your magic." The woman in the veil nodded. "I need you three to capture Snow White, Aurora, Alice and Cinderella. Gaston, Mozenrath," she turned to the man with the ponytail and the man in the turban. "Your duties our to capture Princess Belle and Princess Jasmine."

"The lovely lady Belle shall be mine," Gaston, the man with the ponytail, proclaimed. "So long as that meddlesome Prince Adam doesn't get in my way."

"I shall deliver you Jasmine handily, Lady Maleficent, maybe I will finally be able to rid myself of that rat, Aladdin." The man with the turban, Mozenrath, replied, much to the witch's delight.

"But what about the Seventh Princess?" Morgan asked.

"The Princess Kairi will be travelling with the Keyblade Masters and so she should be visiting your worlds in turn." She sternly faced her council for a second. "Do not harm her or let her wriggle through your grasp like so many before you. And if it comes to fighting Sora and my former apprentice, do not hesitate to kill them."

"The Heartless will be at your full disposal, so don't screw up when it come to them there Key Punks!" Pete added, which drew the laughter of the other members.

"You mean like you did so many times before?" Dark quipped, laughing all the while. "The Heartless will be unnecessary, if they come up to my show then the magic will handily put them away! _Khosoro_!"

"The Keyblade Master associated himself with that coward Sparrow," Jones said spitefully. "If he arrives at my world, I will personally see to his death."

"With the Heartless and my undead warriors, the Keyblade Master will fall to pieces if he should be so unlucky as to wander into Agrabah." Mozenrath said.

"Belle and Princess Kairi will both be delivered to you handily. As will the pelts of your former apprentice, the Key Boy and the lousy Prince Adam," Gaston spat through his brazier.

"We shall not fail you Lady Maleficent." Morgan added finally and Maleficent smiled cruelly at her comment.

"See that you do not." She let the threat hang in the air as the green flames died down and her council vanished. She smiled again and vanished into thin air, letting Pete sit to himself in the throne room.

"So, then, how am I goin' to go about getting down from this thing?" He asked no one, sitting alone in the throne room, about forty feet above the ground.

**KHKHKH**

In a realm severed from all other worlds and realms, Kaiser and Ramziel entered the meeting place, taking their places with their brethren at the oblong table where the Immortals met. The other ten Immortals were in place on their thrones, each throne unique to each Immortal.

At the head of the table sat the tallest Immortal, their leader Cassius on his throne, the back shaped like the letter Omega. Kira sat at the other end, as befitting his rank as the Second-Ranked Immortal. His throne was shaped like a black heart with swords extending from the edge. Kaiser took his place to the seat to the left of Kira, the man with the black braid, Aeron, sat across from him. The woman with the red and black hair, Arianne, and the man with the black hair and bored look on his face, Creed sat to Cassius' left and right. This was the rightful place of the Elite Guard, sitting next to the first and second ranked members.

Kaiser's chair had a back designed like a roaring lion with the arms designed like lionesses. Aeron had a throne designed like a dragon taking flight, Arianne had a chair with four crystals, red, blue, violet and amber, embedded into it. Creed's back was a Nobody symbol placed in between two cloaked statues standing vigil. Sitting in between Arianne and Kaiser were the man wearing the full Organization-like cloak, Tallgeese, the man in the skullcap and jogging suit, Josef Trinity, and the man with the torn vest, headphones and spike hair, Starxys. In between Creed and Aeron were Ramziel, the woman in the hooded vest, Vaniele Trinity and the woman with the violet eyes and curly brown hair, Rosa.

Tallgeese had his throne made into a towering monstrosity with a spike that peaked with the Immortal symbol; Josef's was designed like a crescent moon turned on to its side. Starxys' had his throne designed like two crossed guitars, Ramziel's was six scythes cross together. Vaniele had her throne made like a sun and Rosa's was an equal armed cross.

"Jeez, what a friggin' hassle." Creed complained, resting his head on the palm of his hand. "These stupid meetings always wake me up during my naps. It's bloody annoying."

"Shut your old ass up Creed," Aeron insulted, leaning back on his draconic throne. "No one likes these meetings but with the Keyblade Masters on the move we got to get things rolling."

"Correct, Aeron," boomed Cassius from the far end of the table. "We must put forth our plans into actions if we are to stop the Keyblade Masters from passing out more Keyblades. Every passing day gives them more time to gather their strength and allies."

"Then why are we here exactly Cassius?" Kaiser sneered. "Ramziel and I had them on the Radiant Garden and could have killed them if you didn't interrupt our mission."

"Show some respect to our leader, Kaiser." Arianne chided harshly. "Everything he does has means and actions." She glared at the predatory Immortal who growled at her.

"Shut up woman!" He snarled at the other Elite Guard member. Kira slammed his hand on the table as a wave of darkness spread across it.

"Will you two leave your pathetic squabbles for some other time!" He roared at them in his cold, sinister voice.

As Arianne and Kaiser fell silent, Cassius spoke up again. "I have your missions planned up for you." Ten folders appeared in front of the members ranked 3 or lower. "In each folder is the world you are assigned to as well as a crystal that Kira and Tallgeese has designed for special situations." Several members looked at the folders warily but the senior ones just focused on Cassius. "Kira, I want you to find any information you can on the two allies who were with the Keyblade Masters, Claudio and Rain. Those two…seem familiar."

"As you wish, Lord Cassius." He said, bowing in his chair and warping away into a void.

"You know what needs to be done, correct?" No one said anything, but it wasn't enough for Cassius. "Go to your worlds, find those with the strongest hearts or those that have hearts filled with darkness and capture them."

Tallgeese cleared his throat. "I would also like to remind you that Maleficent is on the move again with her cabal so be wary if you come across them on your worlds."

That drew chuckles from a few members. "Tallgeese, Tallgeese, Tallgeese." Aeron chided. "Need I remind you, it doesn't matter who it is, I'll crush them all!"

"Yeah! There's no stopping us!" Josef cackled loudly. "Keyblade Punks or that Evil Witch, if they get in my way I'll shoot 'em dead!" He cackled again.

"I'm with Brave Fencer Musashi and the nut-job." Kaiser said nonchalantly. "They'll all die if they meet us.

"Good to hear it." An invisible smile appeared under Cassius' cloak. "Now, off to your missions." Cassius warped into the void and the other members filed out of the meeting hall one-by-one.

"Damn it, a mission!" Creed whined as he shuffled from the table. "What a God damn hassle!"

"Relax you lazy loser!" Rosa laughed at the senior member. "We finally get a chance to cause some havoc, destroy some property, have a little fun, y'know!"

"This is not time for fun child, it is time to finally achieve our plans." Arianne told the younger member as they left the room, leaving Ramziel and Kaiser.

"So, where did you get assigned?" Ramziel asked his ally and Kaiser scoffed.

"Doesn't matter. Just some backwater place that doesn't matter and has nothing but crap to offer it." He smiled cruelly at a thought that popped in his head. "I didn't join up for rinky dink missions Ramziel, I signed up for action, for fighting. I signed up to get some blood on my claws!" He flashed his claws to prove his point. "Keyblade Master blood!"

**To Be Continued**

_Wow, multiple viewpoints, multiple characters from Disney and multiple original characters. The heroes have some pretty nasty villains to deal with._

_Maleficent's cabal contains: Maleficent, Pete, Mozenrath (from the Aladdin TV Series), Davey Jones (from Pirates of the Caribbean), Mr. Dark (from Something Wicked This Way Comes), Gaston (from Beauty and the Beast) and Morgan La Faye (from the various legends about King Arthur)._

_The Immortals (and their rankings, in order) are: Cassius, Kira, Kaiser, Creed, Tallgeese, Arianne, Ramziel, Vaniele Trinity, Josef Trinity, Aeron, Starxys and Rosa._

_Next chapter we finally begin the real story and the world hopping begins. The first world comes from a Disney animated film and is based off of old English legends._

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	11. A Keyblader in King Arthur's Court

_Sorry if this world isn't a carbon copy of the movie, it has been a long time since I have actually seen the movie and am just basing it off the old English legends and my own personal studies and experiences with medieval England. Also, updates will be erratic up until the 20th._

Chapter 11: A Keyblader in King Arthur's Court

As planned, the group landed on the world in the morning, right after breakfast, landing in a vacant field out on the countryside. The party of five travelled from the verdant farmland to a nearby town they saw upon landing. The town was a bustling, medieval style city place around a large castle; the town was alive with noises and movement, people hawking their wares from merchant stands, people calling out for challenges at horseback, archery and the like. It was a very frantic atmosphere and had Sora beckoning back to the bazaar at Agrabah.

"Hey Sora," Riku asked as they wandered into the town. "What world is this again?"

"The computer on the ship said it was called 'Avalon'." The brunette replied from the head of the group.

"Right, ever been here before?" He asked again to his friend. Sora just shrugged.

"No. And this is really the first world I've been to with a medieval sort of theme to it."

"Well, what do we do?" Kairi asked, eyeing a variety of clothes from a booth owned by a short bald man with a blonde moustache.

"Usually me, Donald and Goofy just wait for a conflict to show itself and then we meddle in it." Sora explained, much to the blank stares of the remainder of the group.

Claudio sighed. "As good a plan as we got." He was haggling with a wine merchant over trying to have him accept Munny instead of shillings. The merchant was having none of it.

No both were having it. No matter what kind of merchant they went to they only accepted the currency of this world, shillings, and not the gold and blue Munny crystals the group was loaded with.

"Well, this sucks the lowest possible level of sucking!" Claudio growled after making their circuit around the market. "What good is beating you chumps at poker if the worlds don't except my winnings?"

"Easy there," Rain said softly. "You're just cranky because you can't by wine." Everyone laughed a little at how Rain said it.

"Don't make me sound like I'm five."

"Seriously though, we need to think of something to do guys." Sora said to the group. "There really doesn't seem anything wrong on this world but we need to figure out what to do if anything."

"Couldn't we ask everyone if they've seen the Heartless? Or the Immortals?" Kairi offered.

"And be sent to an asylum? No thanks, Princess." Claudio replied, shifting the weight of his guitar case.

"Didn't Terra give us a note with the Blank Keychains?" Rain asked Riku who rummaged said note from his sack of medallions.

She looked at it and read aloud. "'If a world has no viable Keyblader then the Blank Keychains will shoot a ray of light out into the sky when you have solved the worlds problems. Whether this includes sealing a Keyhole or defeating a certain villain, that is up to the world.'"

"So we have to do something to get the medallions to do something." Sora analyzed quietly, holding his chin in thought. "Hmm."

"Hey," Riku said suddenly. "If you've never been to this world Sora, then the Keyhole shouldn't be locked, right?" Sora nodded. "Then we have to the find the Keyhole."

"Easier said than done." Sora explained. "I usually just stumble upon the Keyholes while wandering around, all luck, no skill." Everyone sighed loudly and slouched forward.

"And that takes us back to square one." Claudio stated flatly. Something then caught everyone's ears.

"Here ye! Here ye! Here ye!" A man called out from around the corner. "All challengers step up to face the great knight, Sir James Lansinner! (A/N 1)" They walked to the voice to see a portly man standing near the jousting field standing in front of a mounted knight, fully mailed, trotting up and down the lists. "All challengers just need to offer a mere one-hundred and fifty shillings to win the entire pot, which now tallies eight-hundred shillings!"

A crowd of people had gathered around the lists, none of them knights, or even warriors by the looks of them. The group of five watched the portly man leap around energetically, goading the crowd. "You sir! You sir! How 'bout a joust? (A/N 2)"

"I accept your challenge!" Claudio shouted out from the group. The crowd fell silent as everyone turned to see the challenger. The blue haired warrior stepped forth to meet the portly man. The man was sitting on the railings of the lists and wasn't even looking Claudio in the eye. "I accept sir," Claudio repeated. "Give me a lance!"

Everyone in the crowd, minus Riku, Sora, Kairi and Rain, laughed at the warrior in loud, raucous voices.

"Do not jest with me knave!" The portly man in the hat shot back to Claudio. "You look like you can't even sit ahorse or hold a lance. Look at the companions he travels with!" He pointed to the Keyblade Masters and Rain. "Boys and women dressed as harlots!" The crowed guffawed again.

The five-otherworld warriors stared at him. "Did he just call me a whore?" Kairi asked in rage and disbelief.

"This guys is gonna pay!" Sora punched into the palm of his hand and Riku agreed silently.

"Listen fatty!" Claudio roared at the man who was shorter than him even when sitting on a post. "No one, and I mean no one, calls my wife and my Princess whores! The two boys don't really matter!" Sora and Riku looked angry and dejected at the same time. "Now give me a lance and a horse and I'll take your shillings and your pride!"

The crowd burst into laughter again, louder this time. "Give you? A lance? A horse? I judge a man by the company he keeps and even if I didn't knave, I would just have to look at your attire and know you're unworthy." Claudio did a quick spot check of his clothing and the man continued. "Look at you! You must be French!" Claudio's eyes shot open, looking incredibly insulted. "No? Well then maybe you're a Scot? No? Well then, Irish? Welsh? Then you must be a Spaniard or an Italian." Mention of each race just insulted Claudio more and more. "At any rate, it makes no matter. I doubt you even have the shillings required for the bet!"

Claudio shrugged off his guitar case and unzipped it. "True, I have no shillings but I do have something of equal or greater value." He tossed out High Streak and threw it into the soft earth. "Do you accept my challenge?"

The man gawked at the blade. It was clear that he, and the crowd for that matter, had never seen a blade this exotic or of such high quality. High Streak was clearly worth more than a hundred and fifty shillings and so the announcer saw an easy scam.

"The offer is accepted!" The crowd roared in cheer as Claudio hopped over the tilting fence to take his place opposite Sir James.

"Claudio! What are you doing?" Sora asked from the other side of the lists.

"Winning us some shillings!" He called back, climbing onto a horse brought to him by two squires.

"But…but…" Sora stammered.

"Don't worry Sora," Rain calmed the Keyblade Wielder. "Claudio is a pompous loser sometimes but he knows what he's doing."

"She's right." Kairi confirmed. "I trust him." She smiled slightly. "He's definitely confident enough."

Claudio, mounted on his horse, took his lance in his right hand and waved off the squire to his left who offered him a shield. He took the reigns and brought his horse to the end of the list. His opponent, Sir James Lansinner, was in full plate armour made of gilded steel, wearing an oaken shield bound with iron bands. His horse wore gilded steel barding with cloth-of-gold streamers coming off it and his helmet at certain places. Claudio by contrast wore only his regular clothes, held no shield and even his horse lacked barding. People in the crowds were shouting to each other, taking bets. No one wanted to bet on Claudio.

The portly man stood on the side of the tourney grounds with the spectators and raised a flag above his head.

Claudio raised his lance and called out: "For the honour of my wife, the Lady Rain and my liege, the Princess Kairi." Kairi and Rain lowered their heads and blushed at his declaration.

The portly man lowered the flag quickly to single the beginning of the joust. Sir James kicked his spurs into his horse and charged down the lists. Claudio heeled his horse and it neighed, charging full speed at Sir James. Both men had their lances extended far out, held steady and were charging on their stallions as fast as the beasts could go. Claudio in no armour and Sir James in full armour regalia like the knight he was. They were within range of each other as Sir James steadied his lance more, drawing it closer to his chest. Claudio did the opposite, hugging his horse tightly and extending his lance to its maximum distance. They were only a few strides away from each other when Claudio kicked his horse once again.

_CLANG!!_

There was a thunderous clash of wood shattering on metal as Claudio's lance scored a direct hit on the knight, rocking him in the breastplate and hurling him from his saddle. He fell with an equally thunderous clang, unmoving, totally passed out. Claudio had his horse trot around the lists while standing on his saddle, parading in front of the crowd. He passed the man who offered the challenge, now in shock, and flipped of his saddle.

"I'll be taking these!" He said, snatching the bag of shillings from the shocked man. "And this!" He took off his feather hat and placed it on his head. He then drew High Streak from the ground and stowed it away and tossed the shillings to Rain.

"Now, to buy wine!" He declared in a victorious voice and walked off with the rest of his group.

"Was there a point to winning those shillings? We shouldn't be on this world long." Riku asked the parading winner.

"Why yes there was a point, to buy wine!" Claudio snapped, taking the bag back from Rain and sifting the silver coins through his hands all the while.

"Seriously Claudio, we have to get-" Sora was cut off when he heard a familiar voice.

"Eight shillings for an apple!" A voice, old and wizen and shrill, cried out in disbelief. "Are you mad? How's anyone suppose to buy produce at that price?"

"No clue, sir." Replied a voice, gruffer than the first, probably a shop owner. "But we're at war with them Scots on the other side o' Harridan's Wall so with all the rationin' most ever'thing is higher in price."

"But _eight_ shillings for a piece of fruit! Do you even know who I am?"

"Some ol' codger in ratty clothes and a pointy hat?"

The first voice became even more irate. "Now listen here young man!" Sora and the group were now following where the voices were coming from. "I am the Court Magician here at Camelot and mentor and close advisor to His Highness, King Arthur! My name is-"

"Merlin!" Sora exclaimed as they came to the booth where the old wizard was bartering with the shopkeeper. Merlin was still dressed in his old robes, his pointy blue hat, pointed cloth shoes and golden spectacles at the bridge of his long nose, his, snow-white beard flowing from his chin giving him even a more grandfatherly and wizen look to him.

The wizard turned away from his argument with the merchant to see the approaching Keyblade Master. "Sora, my lad!" The wizard called back. "It's good to see you once again. Leon told me you might just show up on my world."

"So _this_ is your home world?" Sora asked the man who had taught him how to master magic.

"Yes, yes. This is Avalon." He gestured wildly, the sleeves of his robes flapping wildly. "The kingdom of the noble and virtuous King Arthur, homeland to the legendary Knights of the Round Table and world of residence of yours truly, Merlin the Magician." He stopped and looked at the Keyblade Master with proud eyes. "And it was your efforts that brought it back from the darkness. You are forever in the debt of all inhabitants of this world."

Sora scratched the back of his head. "Oh, it was nothing." He then looked to his companions behind him. "Merlin, I'd like you to meet Kairi, Riku, Claudio and Rain." The group of four exchanged common pleasantries with the court mage who nodded courteously.

"Yes, yes, Leon contacted me of your companions." He stroked his beard in thought. "Sora, my boy, I wonder, have you been working on your magic?"

"Yup," he responded proudly. "And I've even bee teaching Kairi a few things too." Kairi waved shyly to the wizard.

Merlin chuckled at the comment. "Well, well, well, it seems that the student has become the teacher now." Something then dawned on the old magician. "Oh! I just had a thought. I should introduce you to King Arthur! I've told him much about you and His Majesty is rather eager to meet a warrior of your calibre. What do you say, lad?"

Before Sora could answer, Riku elbowed him slightly. "Sora, we don't have time for a side trip." He turned to Merlin. "Merlin, have you heard of anything acting weird on this world? Heartless? Nobodies? Fell Souls? Immortals?"

He clicked his tongue to answer, a negative response. "No, uh…Riku, is it?" He nodded. "Well, no. This world has been rather at peace since returning into existence. I do believe that gives you time for a side trip now doesn't it?"

Everyone looked to each other, not knowing what to do exactly. "I guess it'll be okay until we have something to do." Riku yielded.

"We could always use new friends, Sora." Kairi added. "And I think Merlin would rather like you to go with him."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and trouble will find us." Rain said quietly and Claudio let out a single laugh.

"Okay Merlin." Sora responded. "I guess we should get walking to the castle, eh?" He was right; it would take them a while to get inside the massive castle behind them.

"Nonsense Sora!" Merlin said back to the brown-haired Keyblader. "We have more sophisticated transportation at our disposal." Merlin took out his wand and swished it around, gold dust glittering off its tip. "No prepare yourselves…and close your eyes."

They did as told and the wind began to whip around them wildly, their hair swinging loosely in the powerful gust until it stopped. The five warriors and the elderly wizard found themselves in a small antechamber in front of a tower oak door. Standing on each side of the threshold were soldiers in chain mail, pot helms and shields each wielding an eight-foot long partisan.

Both soldiers looked shocked. "Merlin…sir…what…how did you get here?" One soldier stammered to the wizard.

"Never mind that. Is the king without?"

"That he is my lord." The other soldier told him and Merlin nodded.

"Very well, open the door if you will." The soldiers did as they were told, opening the large doors with a creak.

The royal herald saw Merlin's arrival and announced to the court. "All hail mentor and advisor to the king, Merlin the Magician et al."

As the group entered the door, Riku leaned in and whispered to Sora. "Since when are we 'et al'?" The Keyblade Master shrugged.

Sitting at the far end of the throne room was a man sitting on a throne, a sword draped across his lap. He wore royal vestments and a surcoat and a crown; obviously he was the king, with fiery red hair and an equally fiery beard.

"Merlin," The King boomed from across the throne room. "I wasn't expecting you…or your friends. Who are they? They look a little strange."

Merlin cleared his throat. "Your Majesty, may I present to you the Keyblade Master Sora and his companions, Riku, Kairi, Claudio and Rain." Sora, Claudio and Rain bowed to Arthur, Kairi managed an awkward curtsy but Riku simply looked bored and shrugged, not carrying he was in the presence of a king.

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So you are the Sora that Merlin speaks so highly of." Arthur got up from his throne and walked to Sora. "It is an honour to meet you at last." Sora extended his hand for a shake but Arthur lifted Sora up for a bone-crushing bear hug.

"HUR!" Sora gasped as the air was driven from his lungs. "Ow…" He managed weakly as Arthur put him down. "It is an honour to meet you too, Your Majesty."

"Please, call me Arthur." He replied. "I am still not used to being referred to as a King." He then approached Kairi. "And you must be the Princess of the Radiant Garden where Merlin was housed for the time our world was gone." He went to one knee before Kairi. "It is an honour."

Kairi blushed. "Oh no, please don't bow." She stammered, also not used to the royal treatment.

Riku, Claudio and Rain watched the spectacle from the sidelines and Claudio scoffed silently. "And what are we prêt ell? Chopped liver?" He muttered to himself.

"Why all of you our welcomed to my castle and town, my hearth and home." The King offered. "I must ask why are you all here?"

"Well sir," Sora began. "We're travelling the worlds to see if anything is wrong with them." Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Have you had any contact with the Heartless or Nobodies?" Riku asked.

"Or with weird demonic creatures called Fells Souls?" Asked Kairi.

"Or these weird psychopaths in white, branded with splintered hearts? Their called Immortals?" Claudio questioned the King but he simply shook his head.

"Nay, nay, I cannot say I have seen any of these things. England has been at peace for the last couple of months, minus our conflicts with the Scottish to the north. But I digress, the forces of other worlds have yet to harm us at all." The group looked rather crestfallen, with out any purpose on this world as of yet. "But just because of that doesn't mean you should not stay. My hunters caught a mighty large boar the other day; it should be make for a delectable feast. Come all, we must enjoy this peace."

But, as if on cue, three men burst into the room, each one wearing armour and wielding swords. These were probably the Knights of the Round Table.

"Sir Lancelot? Sir Galahad? Sir Percival?" Arthur asked in bewilderment. "What's wrong? Why do you bear your steel?"

"Your Majesty," exclaimed the first knight, Lancelot. "Strange creatures have entered the castle. Beasts with yellow eyes and claws as black and sharp as obsidian!"

"Heartless!" Sora yelled, Keyblade now drawn.

"Knight! Where were the Heartless?" Claudio demanded from them and he got his answer… from the throne room itself.

Inky black pools began to spread across the room as waves of Shadow Heartless rose from them. Purple portals flashed as Soldier and Wyvern Heartless were summoned in the room as well.

"Look no further." Riku shot back, cutting down a few Heartless in their way. With the Keyblade Masters, Claudio, Rain, Merlin's magic, the prowess of the Knights and Arthur's legendary sword, Excalibur, the group made short work of small amount of weak Heartless.

"So, we've found the Heartless." Claudio smiled confidently after eliminating the last Heartless. "Now we just have to find the Keyblader and/or Keyhole and be on our merry way."

"But I wonder…" Merlin said, deep in thought, stroking his beard. "Why are the Heartless attacking now? It couldn't just be because the Keyblade Masters have arrived here, could it?"

"No Merlin, you fool! The Heartless are here to serve me!" A woman's voice cackled throughout the throne room and a dark flame appeared before the warriors, knights, king and wizard. Beside the flame was a familiar dark portal, slowly forming and swirling. From the flames formed a woman with skin as pale as ivory wearing a black dress and veil and wielding a staff topped with an emerald. Out from the portal came a fat cat-man with a dopey grin on his face that was familiar to everyone.

"Pete!" Sora and Riku shouted, Keyblades drawn and ready.

"That's right kiddies." Pete chortled at the heroes. "You just can't keep a good villain down!"

"Morgan! What is the meaning of this?" Arthur directed at the woman.

"Why, dearest Arthur, the meaning of this is simple. My employer will reward me greatly if I destroy this pathetic world to feed her Heartless army." She explained darkly. Morgan then eyed Sora, Riku and Kairi. "And the Keyblade Masters and Princess of Heart? Oh my, this day is getting better and better. Maleficent is sure to reward me ever so greatly."

"Maleficent?" Claudio looked to Sora. "Didn't you kill her during your first journey?"

"Yeah but…" Claudio eyed Sora menacingly. "She kinda of came back and at The Castle That Never Was she appeared to stop a wave of Heartless so she could take the castle." Claudio glowered at the Keyblader.

"That's right Keyblade loser!" Pete shot back. "And now the Castle is not only ours but so are the Heartless. And now we're gonna nab Kingdom Hearts once again, starting with yer little Princess." Pete snapped his fingers, summoning more Heartless, this time with Hookbats and Large Bodies in the mix as well.

"You will not succeed with this evil plot you fiends!" Arthur roared at the two villains. "I will personally see that you are banished from Camelot and this world all together!"

"Not without this!" Morgan taunted. "I doubt even King Arthur will be able to fight the Heartless without Excalibur." Arthur checked his scabbard, to see Excalibur had vanished and was no in Morgan's hands. "Sorry Artie, looks like you loose this battle…Pete, finish off these fools and bring the Princess back to my castle. Ta-Ta." She cackled again and warped away in the dark flames.

Arthur sunk to the ground. "No…" He muttered sadly. "She stole Excalibur. What kind of King am I if I can't even protect my own sword?"

Percival ran to his King's aid. "Your Majesty now is not the time to be in sorrow sir! These creatures are still in the castle and we must make haste to catch Le Faye!"

"He's right Arthur!" Sora helped out as well. "If Excalibur is so important to you then we need to get rid of Pete as quickly as we can!" The others were already fending off the Heartless that Pete had re-summoned.

"There is a time for sorrow and a time to rise up and fight that sorrow." Merlin assured his friend and King. "If we wallow in sorrow now, Avalon may be lost to the Heartless again."

Arthur's eyes shot open at that comment. "No." He said. One word in a solemn voice and Arthur was back to his feet. "As King of this land I will not let that happen again. Lancelot! A blade!" Lancelot quickly drew the blade on his back and tossed it to his King, who promptly cut down a Shadow and stood his ground with the other warriors.

"Percival, Galahad, Lancelot, Merlin!" Arthur ordered. "Leave this room to us, make sure the rest of the castle is safe from these beings." The knights and wizard did as they were told and left the throne room to the others.

"So Pete?" Riku asked, standing next to Rain, Claudio, Kairi, Sora and Arthur, all of their weapons drawn. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm gonna do what I always do in a situation like this!" He proudly declared.

"Summon more Heartless and hide behind a shield?" Kairi asked dryly.

Pete's body slouched over and he muttered. "I hate it when there right…" He snapped his fingers and more Shadows and Soldiers entered the room. Accompanying them were two new species of Heartless. The first were pitch-black stallions with manes of fire and a vicious air about them. The second were seven-foot tall knights in black amour covered in spikes. The Heartless emblem was branded on their amour and their shields, four-foot kite shields bared opposite their ink black broad swords.

Pete's honeycomb dome-like shield came up in a flash. "Ha-ha kiddies! Petie's invincible!"

"Shut-up fat ass!" Claudio snarled as he took to the field, facing one of the knights, a Black Guard, while Rain and Kairi matched up against a Nightmare, one of the equine Heartless.

Claudio clashed his blade against the Heartless; a shower of sparks descending from his vibrating sabre. He brought the blade down again, this time deflected by the kite shield, forcing him backwards with a shove. Every swift, one-handed strike he brought down on the knight was blocked by shield or sword but his offence was so voracious that the Heartless was unable to gain any offence on him. Claudio smile evilly like some sort of martial devil as the Heartless did all it could to block.

"Sora!" Claudio called out to catch his attention. "Let me teach you the first lesson of being a warrior." He drew his pistol and blew the shield into oblivion. "Always." He parried an upper slash. "Make." He swatted the blade away as it came in from the left. "Sure." He spun his blade back and chopped off the right hand. "You kill." Claudio spun around the back and slammed the hilt of High Streak into the Heartless' back, staggering it. "Your enemies!" He reared his sword above his head and brought it down with tremendous force, impaling the Heartless through and through, it vanishing in a puff of darkness.

Sora and Arthur were dealing with the Shadow and Soldier Heartless with ease. He saw that Arthur didn't become King by luck alone, he had amazing prowess with the blade that wasn't even his. Arthur may have been in a funk for losing Excalibur but it wasn't the legendary blade that made the King. By the time the lesser enemies were eliminated only two Black Guards and three Nightmares remained in the throne room.

"Just back off Pete!" Sora shot at the fat cat. "We got you cornered and outnumbered, you can't win."

"Ho, ho, ho," Pete chortled in amusement. "But Maleficent has taught the Heartless a new lil' trick!" He whistled and black energy enshrouded the five remaining Heartless. They turned into wraiths of energy and merged into inky orbs of crackling energy that separated into two new enemies. These Heartless were centaur in fashion except the lower half was reptilian instead of equine. The upper body were armoured in the fashion of some kind of Greek warrior, like a Trojan or a Spartan. They two new enemies, Demon Lancers, looked at the heroes with angry red eyes as they held their silver lances.

Pete's shield fell the instant they formed. "Now you little punks, try and take on the new and improved, super-duper Heartless!"

"They may be two Heartless combined," Riku said, eyeing them with contempt. "But I bet they still go down the same if you cut them."

"Here, here." Rain agreed with a small smile on her face. Her and Claudio were looking for a challenging fight, and they may have it.

"Arthur!" Sora shouted. "You and I will go take on Pete. Everyone else, deal with these things." Arthur nodded at the Keyblade Masters suggestion and ran off to deal with Maleficent's crony.

"You have to admit." Claudio shrugged. "The kid is a decent leader. But now…we have a nice, good old fashion brawl to contend with. Whitey, with me!" He charged to battle one of the Demon Lancers and Riku looked at him with blank eyes.

"Did I just get nicknamed whitey?" He asked dryly.

Kairi and Rain rushed pass him. "Yeah, you kind of did." Kairi answered with a tiny grin and Riku followed Claudio into battle.

As the white haired and blue haired warriors charged their Demon Lancer it charged them. Swiping low with its lance, Riku leapt high and Claudio did the splits and ducked as it grazed its head. Both got back to their feet and clashed with the Heartless, it's skill with the lance was greater than any other Heartless had with any other weapon. Riku dodged it with his agility like a pro but Claudio showed off an amazing athletic prowess, rolling, cart wheeling, flipping and evading anything the Heartless could throw. That is until Claudio misplaced his footwork during a Fosbury Flop and he landed harshly on his shoulder, tripping over the lance. When he looked up, he saw the lance whistling towards him.

_CRACK!_

The lance connected with his jaw and sent him sliding across the throne room. His cheek was bruised and cut open very deep, so deep the blood was seeping into his mouth and you could see the jawbone. He spat a gob of blood out and glowered at the Demon Lancer. "Okay!" He flared at the beast. "No more Mr. Athletic! Time to go bye-bye!" He charged at the beast headlong, blocking a thrust of his lance with the flat of High Streak and throwing it away, the devilish beast crashed on its four legs awkwardly and was reduced to its knees. It got up and glared at Claudio with its burning red eyes.

"Prism Chain Arts, Blizzaga Style: Diamond Burst!" He punched the air and crystals flew from it. They hit the creature's reptilian claws and shattered on impact. The tiny ice shards then gathered at its feet and dissolved, freezing the thing to the ground in a patch of ice harder than diamond. "Prism Chain Arts, Thundaga Style: Lightning Ray!" The electrical ray shot out from his index finger and hit the lance at its tip, shattering it into thousands of tiny metallic shards. Riku then ran up from behind Claudio, leapt into the air and ran the beast through with Way to the Dawn, taking the torso off from the quadruped body and vanishing it into darkness.

Kairi was able to spin around gracefully to get under the wide range of the lance. At such close range all it could do was stomp its feet and try and retreat to get Kairi in range of its lance. She harried it with swift and sure cuts to the knees and thighs but it was only superficial damage, preventing the monster from moving too much or too fast. Rain was able to deflect any strikes coming from the lance but because the two girls lacked Claudio or Riku's physical strength and martial prowess they needed a different plan of attack.

"Kairi, come here!" Rain motioned for Kairi, snatching her arm and spinning her so that Kairi now stood atop Rain's shoulders, her legs wobbled as she tried to stand up straight. "Don't worry Princess, I got you steady!" Energy extended from Kairi to Rain and instantly Kairi was able to maintain a proper balance atop the older woman.

'_I get it.'_ The ability of the action dawned on Kairi. _'The normal Draw ability brings an enemy closer to Rain, connecting her energy to them. She's using that principal to manipulate me into maintaining perfect balance.'_

Atop of Rain, Kairi dove off from her shoulders, Rain using the energy ropes like marionette strings to guide Kairi closer to the Heartless. She dove down from the sky and flashed her blade by its hand; the creature drew back in pain and dropped its lance. Kairi landed gracefully on the ground and let Rain finish it off. "7 Rose Draw, No. 4: Buster!" The disembodied hand snatched the lance and wielded it around, hurling it like a javelin at the Heartless, impaling it and destroying it in an instant

Pete, who up until now, was avoiding conflict with Sora and Arthur when he saw the heroes made short work of the two Demon Lancers. "Ho boy!" Pete gulped, the loss of the Heartless sapping all his bravado and confidence. "Well, Ol' Pete's gotta run! But I'll be back, you can bet your stars on that!" Pete vanished into a dark portal leaving the six warriors of light to themselves.

Claudio walked over to Sora and smacked him on the back of the head. "That, my friend, is for not killing your foes like a good little Keyblade Master!"

"Hey, how was I supposed to know we were going to have to fight Maleficent _and_ the Immortals?"

"Never mind your squabbles." Arthur interjected himself. "We need to get to Morgan's castle and get back Excalibur."

"Hold on, Arthur who is this Morgan person?" Sora asked the King, he sighed.

"Morgan La Faye, she is a sorceress who many a year ago I had a romantic affair with her before meeting my Queen Genevieve. She tried to force me into performing actions I thought were morally reprehensible, trying to fuel my ambitions but I spurned her thoughts and ideas and she has been trying to take over England ever since."

"Oh, so it's a 'Hell has no fury like a woman scorned' type of thing." Claudio smiled slightly. "Let that be a lesson to you two." He eyed Sora and Kairi.

"What do you mean?" Kairi asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing…" He sweated, scratching his head. "So…Your Majesty…shouldn't we head to the stables and ride to stop La Faye?"

"Right you are sir." Arthur agreed and led the party from the throne room.

**KHKHKH**

Each warrior was mounted on either a blood bay stallion or a charger and made remarkable time to La Faye's stronghold. To be fair it wasn't much of a stronghold, simply a bunch of large pewter and stone blocks strewn about a clearing in a forest. They knew it was La Faye because there were two massive monolithic blocks, black as the night and branded with the Heartless crest, to the far end of her base. Standing in the center of the formation was the witch, Morgan La Faye. She still had Excalibur in her grasp.

"King Arthur…Keyblade Masters." She smiled wickedly. "So good of you to join me." She raised her hands and a thick, supernatural darkness covered the forest around the clearing, casting it in a massive cloak of darkness. "Now, for you all to die." She grasped Excalibur and pointed it at the warriors.

"You first, you witch." Riku shot back and charged first at the witch. She swung her free hand and a gust of wind caught Riku, spinning into a vortex and then tossing him back to the group. He caught Rain and they were both sent into the shadows, still visible but shaded but the darkness.

Morgan then fired off several fireballs and lightning bolts, Claudio and Arthur dodged the attacks and Sora cast Reflega to divert the blast away from him and Kairi. The four began to strafe around the sorceress but they couldn't approach her without risk of getting another spell shot at them.

Claudio was able to shoot her in the ribs, which let Kairi charge the witch; she leapt up to hit her with a spinning slash but Morgan side stepped it and then froze the ground into a sheet of ice, causing Kairi to slide out into the shadows.

"Hey!" Sora called to his allies beyond the boundaries. "Why don't you guys rejoin the fight?"

"We can't!" Riku called back.

"What?"

"We can't get our feet of the ground!" Rain answered, she struggled in vain to show him. "These shadows are like tar or something!"

"La Faye!" Arthur spat, dodging an ice crystal. "What kind of sorcery could you possess? What did you sell to gain it?"

"Why Arthur, you fool. I have the power of the Heartless now; my sorcery is more powerful than ever. And after I deliver the Princess to Maleficent and kill you, Avalon will be mine!" She shot a line of fireballs at Arthur, they hit him, snapping his borrowed longsword and sending him flying into the darkness. "And it cost me absolutely nothing!" She began to laugh insanely but Claudio wasn't impressed.

"Wrong you crazy wench! When you deal with the Heartless you will pay. And pay dearly!" He charged her, blade in hand. "Prism Chain Arts, Aerial Style: Air Hike!" Platforms appeared before Claudio, red glowing glyphs with crosses in them. He jumped onto them like they were solid ground and hopped into the air, using his platforms like steppingstones. He got to the platform's climax and came down, sword high above his head.

La Faye managed to catch him in a gust of wind at the last second, sending him out of the circle into the shadows, but not before Claudio fired five more shots at La Faye. He landed in a massive heap and Sora was now alone to fight Morgan.

He had managed to get into close range combat with the sorceress, matching the Keyblade with Excalibur in bursts of light and wind. Morgan didn't seem to have much experience with the sword but Excalibur's magic made more than up for it. It was definitely something to see, the Keyblade battling Excalibur, two legendary weapons flashing and clashing into each other with amazing force.

"Say, Arthur," Riku asked the King, skipping the formalities, as was his custom. "Why is Excalibur so important."

"Excalibur is more than a blade of legendary prowess." Arthur looked at the battle before him with very solemn and wise eyes. "When I was a boy, Excalibur was a sword lodged deep within a sword. The legend said that whoever drew Excalibur from the stone would be rightful heir to the throne of England. I was a squire at the time at a tourney and my knight needed a new sword. I looked all over for one and found a blade stuck in a stone. I simply pulled at it and drew it. Thousands of men, not boys, but men had tried to remove that sword before me. They pulled on it for hours with all their strengths and then they see a young, scrawny squire who hadn't even seen twelve years pull the sword out in a minute." He sighed loudly. "From that moment on I became the crown prince to the throne. That is why Excalibur is important to me. It is my weapon but also because it is the symbol of my authority and my kingdom. It is because of that blade that England is like this today!"

Sora apparently had heard this tale and, inspired by Arthur's motivation, started attacking the hilt or crossguard instead of the sword itself. He managed to trap the guard under his blade and flicked it upwards, sending the sword flying into the air. It flew out of the patch of light and into Arthur's hands.

"Now, La Faye! You shall feel the true power of Excalibur!" Arthur proudly declared as a ray of light extended from the blade, banishing the darkness away from the group, leaving all six of them now to strike La Faye.

"Damn you Arthur!" She hissed shrilly, covering her eyes from the bright light Excalibur shone. "Heartless! Show yourself!"

Hundreds of Shadows began to squirm from the stones strewn about the clearing, wriggling out of portals, all eyes set upon the heroes of light.

"Damn it," Sora swore under his breath. "There are way too many for even us to deal with. If only I could…" He then looked to Claudio and Rain.

'_I wonder…can I use them as Drive components? Only one way to know.'_ He forced the Keyblade to vanish and gathered all his strength, shining with a yellow aura. "Give me strength!" Claudio and Rain, completely surprised, were turned into fragments of light that were absorbed into Sora's body. The nimbus faded and Sora now had yellow clothing and was surrounded by crackling yellow energy. He summoned Keyblades, causing Oblivion to appear in his right hand and Hero's Crest to appear in his left, floating over his palm instead of him actually wielding it.

Master Sora instantly rushed into the swarm of Heartless, nearly as fast as Claudio when he uses his super speed. When he was near the center of the Heartless column he slammed the Keyblades together at the hilt and began to rotate them at a high speed, picking up a mass of wind. The wind became faster and rougher until Master Sora was surrounded by a destructive vortex, gathering speed and all the Heartless and stones in the area.

"Masterful Disaster!"

He unleashed a flux of energy, destroying many Heartless and sending the remaining collapsing on the ground. The stones then dropped onto the remaining Heartless and crushed them instantly.

Arthur, meanwhile, had charged La Faye and ripped her staff in two pieces, sending her to the ground. She cowered, as Arthur stood over her, Excalibur ready to deal the deathblow. "Mercy…I beg of you…"

Arthur looked at her with a solemn, kingly pity and lowered Excalibur, walking away. La Faye sneered as darkness took the form of a blade in her hand.

"Arthur!" Riku cried and Kairi gasped as the witch lunged for Arthur. He turned around at the last moment and cut her through with Excalibur, her body engulfed in a black flame as she screamed in pain. She dissolved away, leaving only her black veil behind.

Arthur bowed solemnly and sheathed his blade. Sora de-fused back into himself, Claudio and Rain, he was out of breath but Claudio frowned at him and walked up to the Keyblade Master

_THWACK!_

Claudio smacked Sora in the back of the head and leered at him. "Don't you ever, _ever_ try that again without my permission!" Sora chuckled nervously but Arthur stepped in to avoid further conflict.

"Sora, I'd like you to come with me. There is something I'd like to show you." He motioned for them to follow and they did just such

**KHKHKH**

Where Arthur had led them was a large rock in front of Camelot where a thin slot was placed within the stone.

"Arthur, what is this place?" Sora asked the King. "Why did you bring us here?"

"I do not know." Arthur replied simply. "I just felt compelled to bring you here. This is the stone where Excalibur was placed." He bent down and passed his hand over the slot. "The place where my reign as King began."

Suddenly, the stone began to glow and the faint outline of keyhole appeared in shiny sparkles. Sora, haven done this several times before during his first journey, stuck out his Keyblade and shot a ray of light into the Keyhole, sealing it with an audible _click_. After the sealing, one of the Blank Keychains rose from Riku's leather bag, shining and rose high above their heads. Riku leapt back and spun his Keyblade around, firing a beam of light at the medallion and it passed through it, into the sky and off into space.

"What in the name of the Lord was that?" Arthur asked in astonishment.

"It means your world is safe." Kairi replied. "And I suppose that we also have to get going. Right?"

"It would seem so." Claudio said dryly. "Good luck on ruling King Arthur, it's been real."

"Say goodbye to Merlin for me," Sora began to walk away, waving goodbye to his new friend.

"I will Sora, and thank you for all your help!" The King shouted back as the group walked away. A beam shot from the sky and trapped the five, warping them back to the Gummi Ship.

**KHKHKH**

It was the middle of the night following their adventure on Avalon. Claudio couldn't sleep as always, he was being plagued by nightmares and so he got up and shuffled to the galley/kitchen and then the cockpit/control room to work on a little pet project of his. As he moved to the rooms in half a daze he heard muffled voices. Two of them, one female, one male and they sounded like they were young. Both voices were strange to Claudio.

"Oh…voices…and me without a weapon." He moaned, still half-asleep. "Well, at least I'm pretty sure I can't die."

He burst into the galley to see two surprised blonde teenagers jump out of their seats. One was a girl with blue eyes, long hair and a white dress. The other was a boy with spiky hair wearing a white jacket, black shirt and cream coloured pants. Both of them looked at him with shocked and angry eyes.

"Claudio!" The blonde whined. "What the hell, man?"

"Excuse me?" The warrior looked at the two with odd eyes; there was something familiar about them. "Have we met?"

"Oh…um, technically we have." The blonde boy said. "But in a way…no."

"My name is Namine." The blonde girl introduced herself. "And this is Roxas. We're the Nobodies of Kairi and Sora."

It then dawned on Claudio. They looked almost exactly like Sora and Kairi except the girl was shorter than Kairi and the boy was taller, more muscular and had a different hairstyle when compared to Sora. He also saw that their bodies weren't opaque but rather transparent. Like they were spirits.

"Oh," he finally replied to the two. "So you two are their Nobodies." He flashed a smile at them. "Nice to meet you." He went to shake Roxas' hand but it just passed through him.

"Oh, right. We can interact with inanimate objects in the spirit form but not animate and organic things." Roxas explained as Claudio continually passed his hand through his non-existent body. "Stop that." He said dryly and annoyed.

"So, what're you two doing up, wandering around like ghosts? I took you as invading enemies." Claudio took a seat at the galley's table.

"When Sora and Kairi sleep we can detach from them and wander around on our own." Namine answered.

"Now, what are you doing up at two in the morning?" Roxas inquired. "Didn't you only go to bed three hours ago?"

"Yeah, but I can never sleep more than four. I suffer from chronic night terrors. So I decided to work on a project that's been dancing in my mind since the Garden."

"And what's that?"

"Something that involves the computer in on the cockpit screen."

"Oh, well there is a computer touch screen in here." Namine explained. "Just use the control panel on the side of the room and it appears on the kitchen table."

Claudio did so and a digital touch screen hologram appeared above the center of the table. "Thank you very much, Nam." He thanked, sitting down again and scrolling through the screen with his finger. "I always work better when I have people to talk to."

"So, what is this project you're working on?" Roxas asked again and Claudio flashed his trademark grin.

"Something that'll help the five of us Rox." He then spoke into the computer. "Computer, open Jimminy's Digital Video Journal. Open Journal search engine. Search following subject: Drive Forms."

**To Be Continued**

_First Disney world done, boy that was long! I think it may have been rushed but hey whatever, it should get good at the third world. That is a doozy._

_Let the speculation begin on Claudio's nightmares and how he can function on four hours of sleep a night! Also, expect more of Roxas and Namine and a more developed relationship between Claudio and Rox and Nam._

_(A/N1): Reference to Jaime Lannister, one of my favourite characters from a Song of Fire and Ice._

_(A/N2): Sweeney Todd with a medieval twist._


	12. Not So Beastly Anymore

_Riku: Hey, Angelo! What's with Sora getting more lines than us?_

_Angelo: Oh, just deal with it you whiney little loser. You could be like Rain._

_Rain: …_

_Angelo: Also, keeping track of six characters and their lines is a little ridiculous so just wait until the split._

_Riku: Okay, point taken._

Chapter 12: Not So Beastly Anymore

"Any idea as to why you two are here today?" Claudio asked, grinning, at the two people joining him in the combat simulation room. Sora and Kairi both shrugged.

"To train us?" Sora asked tentatively.

"Very good Sora." Claudio answered sardonically. "I guess telling you to meet in the 'Combat _Training_ Room' was a bit of a hint, no wasn't it?" Sora glowered at the taller man but he continued. "As I can tell you are both versed in blade and spell, but as you could tell when we fought Ramziel and Kaiser, you need to get stronger. I don't think I need to supervise any training you have with your Keyblades but magic…now that is a different story. Both of you, tell me what spells you can cast and at what level."

Sora went first. "Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, Magnega, Reflega and Curaga."

"Fira, Blizzara, Thundara and Curaga." Kairi recited next.

"Good. Not bad." He nodded slowly. "Sora has six third level spells, three black magic, two green, one white. Kairi has three second level black magic spells and a third level white magic spell, not bad at all." He looked at the two. "But I must tell you that your skills with magic aren't as great as you think." The two looked rather shocked, Sora more than Kairi, at Claudio's assessment.

"I myself possess all six spells that you Sora can cast as well as Waterga, Aeroga, Earthga, Graviga, Protectga, Shellga, Hastega, Slowga and Stopga. These spells can be learned by you on your own but there are other aspects of magic-casting you may or may not know of." He began to pace in a straight line, back and forth in front of the two. "The first lesson is called 'Elemental Composition'. Elemental Composition is essential gathering and conjuring the desired magical element and casting it. Like so." He shot a quick fire spell into one corner of the room. "This is what you have learned when casting spells but to maximize the power you need to gain a mastery of Composition. To do this, mastering conjuring and element, you must…'feel' the desired magical element. Feel the heat and burning might of the flames. Feel the ebb and flow of the ocean. Feel the rising and lowering currents of the wind around you. Feel the fury of thunder, the pride of stone, the unyielding steadfastness of ice." He stopped, talking and pacing. "This is obvious more difficult to learn for higher level magic and more abstract spells like Magnet or Haste but it is the easiest way to understand magic this way. Feel the element and combine that energy with your own mental power."

"So what's the second lesson?" Kairi asked. "Besides Composition, I mean."

"Well, Sora has actually done this before Princess. The second facet is called 'Form Manipulation'. Once you've gathered the energy for the desired spell simply shape its form in your mind. This obviously causes a lot more strain on the caster itself but its worth it. Sora, you've demonstrated this before in your Fire magic, shooting out a fireball or creating a ring of flames about you. Manipulation is simple once you get a good understanding of it and it'll increase your mental reserves by a wide amount."

Claudio then chose to demonstrate some Form Manipulation by casting a Water spell. He first summoned a fifteen-foot tall geyser across the room and then collected the water particles into his hand to form a shifting orb of water. He threw it and caused it to explode like a grenade. He then collected the particles above his head to form a massive sheet of water on the ceiling and forced it to descend like some sort of high-density rain. He then cast Aero, creating a gust of wind and manipulating it with wide gestures from his hands. He collected all the wind under his feet, creating an orb of air that solidified, swirling around and causing him to rise off the ground, sitting. The air rose from the orb and formed a swirling mass of wind armour around him and then finally, with one palm thrust, he forced the wind out into a razor sharp whirlwind. He took out Low Cut and shot it at the column of wind and the bullet was sliced in two by the wind blades.

"Whoa." Kairi uttered at the display of magical power. Claudio was sweating a little bit but was barely any worse for wear. "I've never seen anything like that in my life!" A wide smile crossed her face as she began to get more excited. "Please, Claudio teach, please teach me how to do that!"

"Easy there Princess." He said, never seeing her this excited before. "As much as I love my Aero and Water spells, they are considerably difficult to use and I've had many years to fully master them." Her face turned into a frown. "But, don't worry Princess, just try you're hardest and practise. If we any face Heartless that are rather weak, practise new Elemental Composition or Form Manipulation during the battle, you have no idea what kind of combinations you could create."

"Say Claudio," Sora began, walking up to the warrior and whispering into his ears. "Why are you teaching us this? We can fight, you've seen it, and the enemies so far haven't been that powerful so why teach us these new techniques?"

He considered Sora with a grim grin for a second. "The Immortals are nothing like these enemies we've fought. Right now it will take everything we have to beat one of them. And there are eleven more waiting in the wings, and wherever one Immortal dwells…another is never far behind."

"How do you-"

**"Attention! Attention Sora, Riku, Kairi, Rain and Claudio! A new world lies within distance! Please return to the control room immediately!"**

With the ship's announcement, Sora forgot his question and ran to the control room with Kairi in tow. Claudio stood there in silence for a second before starting to follow and muttering under his breath. "Whew! Saved by the claxon right there."

**KHKHKH**

The crew arrived outside the gates of another castle; this one was familiar to Sora though, even if it had changed a lot since his last visit. Where it was once dark and gloomy, shadowy and demonic, it now had a more light and holy feeling about it. Where statues of demons and gargoyles once stood now where marble statues of cherubs and angels. It was a new look to an old place. Sora smiled as the old memories flooded back.

"Any idea as to where we are?" Sora asked his group.

"Well, the ship's computer said it was Beast's Castle." Kairi plainly stated.

"That's right, this is the one and only Beast's Castle, although it has changed quite a bit since I was here last. But I digress, this is the home of the cursed Prince known simply as The Beast and Belle, one of the seven Princesses of Heart."

"Crap." Claudio and Riku swore in stereo.

"What?" Sora asked.

"Well, you said a Princess of Heart lives here so that means Maleficent's cronies will be skulking around." Claudio gave his reason, now wearing a light blue hooded vest with a black butterfly on the left breast pocket instead of his overly long trench coat.

"And this is Beast's home. The last time I checked, I was the one who nearly caused him to lose Belle the first time and he doesn't seem like a guy to drop grudges." Riku said to his friend.

"Oh come on guys!" Sora exclaimed back. "If you keep getting all depressed at the worlds then what fun is it to be on a journey?" Rain, Riku and Claudio just looked at him with blank eyes. "Jeez, it was never this hard when I travelled with Donald and Goofy."

"Well, I don't look like a duck," Claudio half-snapped, half-protested. "And I'm pretty sure Riku doesn't look like some sort of moronic dog person."

Riku rolled his eyes and sighed loudly. "Could we please just go in the castle so Beast can rip me to shreds and I don't have to suffer Claudio's witty banter anymore?"

"There are thousands of people in this life who would want my banter you little buffoon, so I don't need to waste it on you."

"Uh…guys?" Sora asked impatiently from the steps leading to the doorway. "I hate to break up this whirlwind of discussion but do you mind if we go inside?"

"Say Sora?" Kairi asked, also on the doorstep. "Who else lives here besides the Beast and Belle?"

"Well we have the castle retainers, there' Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, her son Chip and the Wardrobe…"

"Wait, did you say Wardrobe?" Rain asked in confusion.

"Oh, yeah all the holders of the castle were turned into furniture by the curse that turned the Prince into Beast."

"Are all worlds this strange?" Claudio questioned dryly. Sora shrugged and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, there's the Halloween themed world, the world under an ocean and then there's the one inside a computer."

Claudio looked at him blankly. "Just knock. Please."

Sora stepped under the archway that leads to the door. The stones had etchings of angels on them except for the top keystone, which had a drawing of a rose on it. He lifted one of the heavy cast iron knockers and slammed it down. A second later the door opened and Sora was amazed at what he saw.

Just like the exterior of the castle, the interior had changed drastically too. The once dreary stone that made up the castle was replaced by highly polished white marble that would look magnificent in the daytime. More statues of cherubs and angels were placed across the large chamber. The castle had become a beautiful place once more…but why?

The next thing that caught Sora's eye was the people. There was a man with an air of dignity around him, wearing a blazer with a pocket watch with curly brown hair. Next to him was a tall man in performers clothing and to him was a frumpy old woman in a ruffled dress. Behind her was a short boy with red hair and a chipped tooth.

"Um…hello?" Sora greeted, not knowing who these people were.

"Hello yourself Sora," replied the man with the pocket watch in perfect English. "It is truly a pleasure to see you again my lad."

"And look, he's brought friends!" Replied the tall man in performers clothing in a French accent. "Ah, Sora mon ami, you've haven't changed one bit…but clearly we have."

"Right…who are you again?" The brunette asked tactlessly.

"Sora dear, we're hurt. Don't you remember us?" Came the old woman.

He placed a finger on his chin and thought for a second, thinking back to who he met during his visit four months ago. It suddenly dawned on him. "Mrs. Potts?" The woman nodded. "Lumiere? Cogsworth? Chip?" The tall man, English man and child all nodded in response. "What happened to you all? Your…your…" The other four companions of his caught on.

"Not wooden?" Rain asked.

"Normal size?" Came Kairi.

"Human and not furniture?" Claudio brought up.

"Yeah!" Sora exclaimed and the four servants nodded.

"Yes mon ami, we're humans again." Lumiere said. "And it is all thanks to your efforts in saving the Master and the rose."

"You mean?"

"Yes Sora," answered the man who once was a clock, Cogsworth. "The Master finally broke the curse."

"So that is why the castle has changed so much!" Sora deemed again.

"And here I was looking forward to seeing talking furniture." Claudio bemoaned with half a smirk on his face.

"Oh, the Master and Belle will be so happy to see you again Sora." Mrs. Potts declared. "And I am sure he will be interested in meeting your new friends."

"Where are those two anyway?" Kairi asked.

"I'll summon them at once." Cogsworth said and walked off to fetch the two, along with the other three servants.

Riku shifted from foot to foot nervously and gazed at Sora. "I don't think this is a good idea Sora. I mean, how will the Beast react when he sees me in his castle."

"Well, he's not the Beast anymore, the curse is broken so he should just be a Prince." Kairi explained but Riku shook his head in despair.

"Doesn't matter, a temper is a temper and personally, if I saw the guy that made off with my girlfriend, managed to destroy my world and tried to kill me…well I'd be pissed to say the least." He chuckled nervously.

"Here, here." Claudio agreed. Cogsworth then reappeared at the head of the stairs.

"Sora and friends, may I present to you, Prince Adam and the Lady Belle." He bowed as two people descended the staircase.

Belle was there in her everyday white and blue dress and standing next to her was a man wearing a white undershirt and a blue and gold coat with brown hair tied into a short ponytail. At the sight of Sora, they both ran up to the Keyblade Master and greeted him.

"Sora," the man called to him. "How can I thank you for this?"

"For what?" Sora replied.

"Everything." The man boomed, Prince Adam. "For my castle, my friends, my body…my love." He brought Belle in for a hug and she smiled sweetly.

"Oh! You're the Beast…I mean Prince…right?" He stammered uncomfortably and Claudio groaned.

"You know, I've never met him and I knew he was the Beast when he was announced as a Prince." He called back in an annoyed tone.

"It's so good to see you again Kairi." Belle exclaimed, hugging the other Princess. "I'm so glad we get to see each other again after last times unpleasant circumstance." She then eyed the other three members of the party. "Who are your friends?"

"Oh, this is Claudio, Rain and Riku." Kairi said to Belle. At the mention of Riku, Belle's face lost all colour as she ran back to Adam. Adam's eyes narrowed and filled with rage toward the white-haired teen.

"You!" He barked loudly at Riku. "You! Why are you here?" The Prince was furious, grabbing a fencing foil from a shield above the mantle. "Get out! Get out! You are not welcomed here!" He marched to Riku, blade gripped tight in his hand, its point aimed at Riku's throat. Riku backed away from the frothing Prince in defence but it was Sora who ran out in front of Adam and Riku to defend any possible attack.

"Hold on Adam!" Sora shouted to his ally. "I know Riku has done a lot of rotten things in the past but he's a good guy now." Prince Adam was still baring his teeth at the dark wielder. "Please, he's my friend."

"Sora," Adam began. "Did you forget what he did?" Sora and Riku both looked highly dejected. "He was the first reason why I nearly lost Belle in the first place. He destroyed my home and he nearly killed me. He nearly killed Belle. He nearly killed _you_!" His anger was a bellowing force not to be reckoned with it. "How can I forgive him for all of that? How could anyone who had their lives wrecked by him forgive him? How could _you_? He kidnapped so many people, destroyed so many worlds and you want me to welcome him with open arms!"

"Yeah…" Sora muttered quietly. "I can. I can and Kairi can and everyone back on our home can. And I know so many others can too. Because he's our friend Adam…Beast; everyone deserves a second chance to redeem themselves…like you!"

Adam was rather taken aback by how Sora was defending his long time friend but he eventually regained his composure, sheathed his sword and walked over to Belle defensively. "Sora, you and your friends are all welcomed under my roof for as long as you wish…except for him!" He spat and pointed to Riku. "I will not let that…_thing_ stay under my castle, under any conditions." He took a stalwart stance and looked at Riku with cold eyes.

Riku then turned to leave, showing no emotion on his face. He didn't know Beast so it wasn't really hard feelings, and Beast did have a point with the kidnappings and the destruction of worlds and the attempted killings…. But Sora still didn't care, no matter what Riku or Adam thought.

"Hold up!" He called to his friend. "If Riku isn't wanted under this roof then I don't want to stay under it either!" He proudly declared.

"Sora no…I'll just go to the Ship and camp out there for the night, you enjoy this castle tonight." He replied with a dead, emotionless voice. "I'll be cool."

He walked the length of the hallway to the doors while the four adventurers just watched in silent protest. Kairi and Sora had sad looks on their faces as they saw their friend walk away dejectedly and Claudio constantly gave Adam poisoned looks while Rain just stood on with a face that looked like it was made of stone. Silence followed as Riku began to pull back on the door but then something broke the silence.

_CLAP!!_

Someone let out a lone, solitary clap in the hall. Everyone looked around for the clapper; it wasn't anyone in the room but a new person. "All right, one less Keyblader to deal with. Maybe this mission won't be such a drag." A voice called out, loudly and proudly.

"Who's there?" The Prince formerly known as the Beast boomed out.

"Show yourself now!" Rain declared, sword now drawn.

"Crap," the voice muttered. "Cover's blown. This mission really is a massive drag…" A man leapt out from the shadows. He was a tall, gangly man with slicked back black hair with a chin and jaw line covered in stubble and half-opened black eyes that looked lazy and half-asleep. He wore a long white coat with the split heart of the Immortals on the back with white gloves and boots.

"An Immortal!" Kairi called out.

"What? Who are they?" Belle asked.

"A group of bad guys." Sora explained. "They make Xaldin and the Organization look like chumps."

"Why are you here, Immortal?" Claudio cried, blade and gun drawn.

"Yeah, a 'how do you do' to you too guys." The tall Immortal replied in a weary and sardonic voice. "God, why is everyone I know so damn serious. My name is Creed by the way, the Fourth-Ranked Immortal. And I am here to…let's see." He pulled down the sleeve of his coat and began to read his left arm, like he had crib notes or something. "Objective #1: Piss off the Prince…how tact." He moaned. "#2: Take the heart of the Princess and anyone else in the world with a strong heart…"

"NO!" Adam roared, blade flashing wildly. "I will not let that happen again!" He charged Creed with malice lacing his wild eyes. The foil was sent thrusting towards Creed's neck but he simply blocked it with his hands. The foil bent with the extreme pressure he was putting on it but the point wasn't able to puncture the skin…or the glove for that matter! Adam brought the blade back and sent it flying again but Creed snatched the blade in the air and snapped it with barely any movement of his wrist. He then sent Adam flying away with a simple backhand.

"Adam!" Sora ran to help his friend along with Claudio, Rain, Kairi and even Riku but a bunch of Savant Fell Souls appeared to block their path.

"Nice job boys!" Creed said wearily to his Fell Soul minions. "Now, to accomplish objective one." He pulled out a dark violet crystal on a chain out of his jacket and pointed it at Adam. Violet let flashed and darkness entered the Prince as he began to roar and cry in pain heavily. Adam's hair suddenly started to grow wildly and began covering his body. His enter frame extended outward and upward as his face turned into a monstrous snout. His clothes tore and ripped as he still continued growing. His hair now covered his entire body as two short horns sprouted from his head.

The Prince who was once the Beast was now the Beast who was once a Prince. Again.

"Sweet…" Creed mumbled over the crippled body of the Beast as the others fought off the Savants. "Now for your heart dearest Belle…" He began to walk over to Belle. His fingers stiffened and began to crackle with dark energy. He levelled his hand towards her heart and lunged forward with a previously unseen speed. He almost impaled her until…

_CLANG!!_

Riku had leapt in front of Creed and blocked the strike with Way to the Dawn. He shoved Creed off and away. He struck at him wildly but the Immortal was able to dodge the attacks, no matter how fast they were. It appeared as if Creed was using the least amount of energy and motion to avoid the strikes. His laziness eventually got the best of him as Riku delivered a brutal lunging strike to the midsection. But what Riku didn't understand was that even though he scored a hit, a hit…a very palpable hit he would declare (A/N 1) but there was no familiar sound of blade slicing through flesh and Creed seemed to be in no pain. He doubled over and gasped slightly but that was it. He took the blow and was pretty much unaffected by it. Creed jumped back to avoid any further confrontation.

"It's been real…but you're kind of making it a drag, so… yeah. Bye!" Creed gave a lazy salute to the Keybladers and vanished into thin air.

"And just for once I thought we could fight enemies that are normal." Sora moaned, defeating his last Savant. He then saw what had become of Adam.

Belle was sitting next to him, embracing him, as Adam…or Beast now, was examining the familiar form he now possessed. The paws, the fangs, the horns, and the fur…it was too familiar to his liking.

"No…" He groaned softly. "No. NOOOOOOOOOO!!" He roared loudly, shaking the rafters of the castle. "I had finally managed to regain my body and then…that thing enters my castle and dashes my hopes again!" He cried out in anguish, everyone feeling sorrowful for the former Prince. "I was so happy and it has all been taken away once again."

"Beast…" Belle said softly to her love. "It's okay…the castle is unaffected and so are the servants." They looked and Lumiere and Cogsworth had wandered down, still in human form. "The curse isn't in effect it was just the weird magic of that Creed man." She then looked into his now big black eyes. "But it doesn't matter what you look like…I still love you."

The Beast smiled, showing his fangs. He then got up and walked over to Riku. "I owe you an apology Riku." He said gruffly. "It was because of your heroics that Belle wasn't taken from me again." He bowed deeply to the Keyblader. "Can you ever forgive me for treating you like this?"

The white-haired Keyblade Master looked at the Beast, considering him for a second and then simply shrugged. "Don't do anything. Consider our debt is squared." The Beast and Belle nodded in agreement and Claudio made a sniffling noise, whipping a fake tear away from his eye.

"Well, two touching moments after another and we've only been on this world for twenty minutes," he drawled dryly and sarcastically. "But we still have an Immortal running around somewhere and Prince Adam…AKA our dearly beloved Beast now is…well the Beast." Beast glared at him for his tactlessness and Rain elbowed him in the stomach.

"Could you be the least bit sensitive to the plight of others sometimes?" Rain glowered at her husband and he smirked and shrugged. She slapped him. "I really do hate that smile sometimes."

"I love you too, darling-" Claudio stopped short in his cooing, a familiar look to Riku, Rain, Sora and Kairi.

"What is it Claudio?" Sora asked.

"After seeing this look three times before I thought you could guess." He growled and then said one word. "Heartless."

The seven heads turned to see a medium sized Heartless wearing what looked like leather armour and carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows. When they spotted the beast its beady yellow eyes under a leather turban flashed with panic and warped away.

"Damn it!" Riku cussed. "It got away. Do you guys think it was with Creed?"

"No," Kairi responded, half in thought. "If it was then why would it just vanish and not attack us?"

"I smell Maleficent." Sora muttered. "One of her allies has to be on this world."

"I think I know who it might be." Belle spoke up in answer. "There have been rumours amongst the town that strange black creatures with yellow eyes have been doing the bidding of a hunter named Gaston." She spat his name out with an out of place venom for a Princess of Heart.

"What's up with this Gaston guy then?" Sora asked. "You have some history with him?"

"He believes that I am the perfect wife for him. Just because he's the so-called most 'handsome' man in town and I'm the most beautiful villain he thinks I'll be perfect for him. He's obsessed with me. It's actually because of him that I found Adam…uh, the Beast, in the first place."

"Sounds like a chauvinistic creep." Kairi agreed with her fellow Princess.

"Yes." Rain commented. "A relationship of lust instead of love."

"So, he's the most likely candidate for being Maleficent's stooge on this world?" Riku piped in and Belle nodded.

"That is unless Sora failed to permanently kill Xaldin and now he's back." Claudio mumbled and Sora shot a death stare to him.

"Okay, I get it. People I kill have a habit of coming back to life. Can we please move on?" Sora yelled. Belle then noticed something was wrong in the room someone was missing.

"Where did the Beast go?"

**KHKHKH**

Where Beast went was to his own chambers to wallow in his own pity. He had finally broken the curse and found his true love but then this happened… Creed appeared and invoked the Beast form from his heart once more. Except this time it wasn't just a curse, it was some sort of dark magic and it wouldn't be so simple to break like the last curse. How he would be able to break this curse if it wasn't technically a curse with no definite cure? His head was spiralling into a downfall of depression when Sora, Riku and Kairi walked in.

"What do you three want?" He said glumly, eyeing Riku suspiciously. Riku once again had an emotionless look in his eye but his face didn't have that cold quality to it.

"We're here to help you Beast." He stated back, trying to sound warm but finding it hard to a man who had just been reprimanding him fifteen minutes ago. "After all we are your friends."

"Friends?" The Beast half-chuckled, half-sobbed. "Friends? A Beast with friends? That doesn't happen. Neither does love. It doesn't happen for beasts." He sighed, sinking his head downward. "We try to gain some humanity but it is always torn away and then we die."

"How can you talk like that?" Sora asked suddenly to his ally.

"Yeah, Beast." Kairi agreed and Riku nodded. "You have your humanity. You're kind and brave and self-sacrificing. You have your friends to stand beside you…and you have Belle." Sora looked at Beast with steely eyes.

"Did you forget how she cares for you so much?" He asked, frowning. "How she loves you no matter what you look like? Love is more than external looks, it has to do with the heart."

"I've witnessed first hand the sacrifices you and Belle have gone through to see your love come to fruition." Riku added to his one-time enemy. "I fought against you and your love gives you strength…not your looks." The Beast looked at him with poisoned eyes and growled lowly.

"Why are you even here?" He asked the white haired warrior. Riku smiled nonchalantly at the Beast.

"To repay a debt." He looked to Sora, Kairi and then Beast. "To a lot of people."

"What does it matter? Even if Belle loves me, how can I live in normal society?" He stared into a nearby mirror. "Look at me! I'm hideous, the second I walk into town they'll be after me with torches and pitchforks. I can't do that to Belle, so outgoing and fun-loving…it would kill her!"

"She loves you Beast!" Kairi repeated once again. "It doesn't matter what you do when you're in love so long as you spend time with each other."

"Wow Kairi, you could write a book on this stuff." Sora mumbled and Kairi blushed slightly.

"But seriously," Sora snapped back into the conversation. "Beast, Belle is in danger. Not only could Creed be still skulking around but the Heartless are here to and Claudio found out that Gaston-"

"Gaston!" Beast jumped up, growling at the mention of the name. "What about Gaston?"

"He's been spying on you using the Heartless and Claudio found out that he's gathering a mob to come up to the castle, kill you and take Belle away!"

A look that mixed anger and sadness pooled in Beast's eyes and then he roared loudly, the wind whipping around in the small room. "NO! NO!" He screamed in defiance. "I won't allow that! Even if I am a Beast, I love her and would die before seeing Gaston put his hands on her!"

Sora smiled triumphantly. "All right Beast! I knew you still had it in you."

He nodded and then looked at the three teenagers. "Thank you Sora, thank you Kairi. Even you Riku, thank you. When you gain everything and then have it torn away so suddenly you end up in a maddening depression." The three warriors of light smiled in success. "But tell me this, how did Claudio find out about the meeting? The village is a while away from here."

Riku tried to explain to Beast. "Well, Claudio and Rain possess certain powers to cover long distances in a-"

At that moment Rain teleported into the room and nearly caused Riku and Sora to leap into the sidewalls of the room while Beast spied her curiously. She waited for the two teenagers to calm down and then spoke.

"Listen," she started. "You guys have to come to the top of the castle walls and see what's going on. Now." She teleported away and the four looked at each other before running off to find her and Claudio.

**KHKHKH**

A little while ago, in the town tavern, a crowd of unruly men were gathered before Gaston and a tiny strange looking man named LeFou. There was a lot of noise as LeFou tried to calm and quiet everyone.

"What's this all about Gaston?" One man demanded from the din of the bar.

"Quiet you!" LeFou piped up. "You should be honoured to be in the presence of a man like the great Gaston!"

"Quiet LeFou." Gaston snapped, wearing an utterly serious expression. "You are all here tonight, my dear posse, for one thing. Thanks to my little friends from out of town, I have discovered that Prince Adam, who recently took residence up in the far castle, is actually the dreaded Beast!" A gasp came up from the crowd and muted mutterings followed.

"What should we do?" One man shrieked and others echoed his fear. Gaston grinned at the palpable fear. He could use this.

"I'll tell you what we'll do!" He proudly declared. "We…are going to kill the Beast!"

_Through the mist and through the woods_

_Through the darkness and shadows_

_It's a nightmare but it's an exciting ride!_

_Say a prayer, then we're there_

_At the drawbridge of a castle_

_And there's something truly terrible inside_

Gaston summons a Heartless to create black portal to show the visage of the Beast.

_It's a Beast!_

_He's got fangs, razor sharp ones_

_Massive Paws_

_Killer claws for the feast_

_Hear him roar, see him foam,_

_But we're not coming home,_

_Till he's dead_

The crowd erupts into a cheer.

_Good and dead!_

Another, louder cheer

_Kill the Beast!_

The men in the tavern begin to suit up for battle as Gaston summons wave after wave of Heartless to bolster his Frenchmen. The mob grabs torches and pitchforks while Gaston grabs a broadsword and a bow, leading the assortment of men and Heartless to the castle.

MOB: _Light your torches, mount your horse!_

_GASTON: Screw your courage to the sticking place!_

_MOB: We're counting on Gaston to lead the way!_

_Through a mist, to a wood_

_Where within a Prince's Castle,_

_Something's lurking that you don't see everyday!_

_It's a Beast!_

_One as tall as a mountain,_

_We don't rest, _

_Till he's good and deceased!_

_Sally forth, tally ho!_

_Grab your sword, grab your bow_

_Praise the Lord and here we go!_

Gaston orders the Heartless to tear down a large tree and fashion it into a crude battering ram. Several Soldiers heave it up and march onward to the castle gates.

_We don't like what we don't_

_Understand, it frankly scares us_

_And this monster is mysterious at least!_

_Bring your guns, bring your knives!_

_Save your children and your wives!_

_We'll kill the Beast!_

_Hearts ablaze, banners high!_

_We go marching into battle_

_Unafraid although the danger just increased!_

The Heartless have reached the door and began to ram against it, trying to shatter the large doors. All the while, the mob sings their song.

_Raise the flag, sing the song_

_Here we come, we're fifty strong!_

_And fifty Frenchmen can't be wrong!_

_Let's kill the Beast!_

The song reached its crescendo as the Heartless pierced the doorways and the Heartless then began to clamber over each other, trying to wrench the door open with their claws while the crowd cheers on, chanting. "Kill the Beast! Kill the Beast! Kill the Beast!"

**KHKHKH**

Up from the castle walls, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Rain, Claudio, Beast, Belle and the servants watched the spectacle in a mixture of awe, amusement, fear and annoyance. Beast growled as they cheered for his death and Sora and Riku glared down at the swathe of Heartless at their feet. Claudio flashed a smile of pained amusement.

"Singing Frenchmen. Have the worlds gone mad?" He drawled dryly. Rain leered at him but he just smiled.

"Lumiere, Cogsworth." Beast said, the two servants standing to attention. "Take Belle and the others to her room and barricade the door, make sure no one gets to her!" The servants did as they were told with Belle looking at the Beast with forlorn eyes.

"The Heartless have already entered the castle." Rain declared and Sora nodded.

"Okay, we need to take care of the Heartless outside and inside." He stated. "Any ideas?"

"Claudio and I will deal with those on the outside." Rain answered.

"And that leaves the four of us to deal with anyone that gets by you two." Riku said.

"Won't be that many my friend." Claudio called back as he took Rain's hand. They stepped up to the window ledge and dove off the castle to meet the encroachers below.

"To the entrance hall!" Beast growled at the Keyblade Warriors, who had their blades drawn. "Now!"

**KHKHKH**

Only a small portion of the mob made it into the castle, Gaston accompanied by a few Heartless. The remaining Frenchmen and Heartless were about to chair when two people descended from the castle parapets, a tall man with silver-blue hair and a short woman with auburn hair. They both fell from extreme heights and landed with inhuman grace, no injuries or pain about them whatsoever.

"You two!" A particularly brave Frenchman declared. "Are you allies with the Beast? Speak now!"

Rain looked at them with her normally tame eyes, now possessed of an inner ferocity. "Beast? No, we're not allies with the Beast." She answered drawing confused mutterings from the crowd. "We are allies with Prince Adam but not with you lot, not with the true beast of the land!" Her statement took the mob aback and even Claudio looked at her with fresh eyes, seeing a fire in her that he thought was long extinguished. "Prince Adam…or the Beast, whatever you wish to call him, he never did anything to hurt you. But simply because he's different you get up in arms and think you have the right to storm the castle and kill him! What gives you that right?"

"He's a Beast ma'am, and we're men." One of the men replied and both Claudio and Rain sneered at him.

"Look at what you are associating yourself with!" Rain roared at him, all eyes on the Heartless now. "No true men would ally with the Heartless, they would try to protect their homes from them. They are your true enemies! The Heartless and Gaston!" The crowd looked at each other uncertainly and mumble quietly but they made no move to or away from the castle. The Heartless though…they were a different story.

"Rain, love. While I admire this fire in you heart," Claudio stated to his wife, shouldering his blade. "It seems the Heartless weren't moved by it the same way the Frenchies were." He revved his trigger a few times and eyed the marching force of darkness with a warrior's eyes. "So enough philosophy, more killing!"

She sighed. "I guess we have no choice. But don't harm any humans, they're just pawns for the Heartless and Gaston."

"You're no fun," he mumbled, stepping forward to meet his enemies… and was greeted by a barrage of arrows from the leather-wrapped Heartless, Arrow Scouts. Several hundred arrows flew through the air and littered his body, he brushed each one aside but more just took there place.

"Damn things," he cursed loudly. "Rain! Assistance!"

Rain smiled slyly as she stepped forward, her hand charged with scarlet energy. "7 Rose Draw #5: Shield of the Scarlet Flowers!" She traced her hand in the shape of a shield and a blood red barrier erected itself in front of her as she stepped forward to take the arrow barrage with her shield. Any thing that touched the barrier was vaporized in an instant as she continued her march. The Frenchmen were smart enough to step out of the way but the Heartless were vaporized, stupidly wandering into her shield.

"Time to end this!" She took her mark and darted forward, crushing any Heartless in the path of the shield, carving a massive scar away from the swathe of the Heartless. By the time she reached the end of the bridge, the shield shattered and she warped back to Claudio. Despite this impressive show of power, the Heartless continued to march…but a few of the mob members started to slowly break rank.

"It'll take forever if you keep that up, dear." Claudio said as he fended off a line of Soldiers approaching their position. "And I don't think you have the energy. I could take them out…if someone hadn't forbade me from hurting the humans."

"Don't worry. I got a plan."

"You don't have enough energy to Draw each man out of the mob."

"No." She smiled slyly again. "I got a better idea. Just be ready to use the Hell's Butterfly when I say so." He looked at her strangely but nonetheless, started to rev up the High Streak until it was covered in a blanket of crimson energy, crackling with the furious might of a storm.

She pointed her blade, Scarlet Queen, at the advancing mob and began to shine with a violet aura. "Aeroga!" A gale blew out from the tip of her blade, engulfing the mob, she manipulated the wind so that it only picked up the mob members. Any Heartless that was accidentally snatched up were destroyed by the whipping winds. She had the entirety of the human portion of the mob in the gale and then un-ceremonially dumped them on the far border of the forest.

Claudio stepped forward and smirked at the remaining foes, all Heartless, all fair game. "Prism Chain Arts, Finisher Style: Hell's Butterfly!" The red-and-black blade beam flew out to meet the Heartless force and instantly obliterated each one, sending them back into the darkness. When they finally were all gone, the beam swooped up from the bridge and exploded into panoply of red and black energy, taking the form of a black swallowtail butterfly.

"God, what a sight for sore eyes." He said sentimentally. Rain walked up to him and smiled wearily before collapsing. "Rain!"

"Don't worry, just used to much energy in that Aero spell." She managed, smiling wearily as Claudio cradled her in his arms. "Those guys just really got to me."

"Yeah, what was up with that? I haven't seen you that worked up in a long time."

She sighed sadly. "Just the way they treated him because he was different, makes me think of Traverse Town…all those years…Mia…" Claudio grinned lazily.

"Oh, that." She frowned and smacked him lightly on the head. "I love you too dear." He then leaned in a kissed her on the lips. Rain resisted at first but soon was swept up in her own emotions and moaned softly as Claudio showed her why she fell in love with him in the first place.

**KHKHKH**

Meanwhile in the castle, Beast, Riku, Sora and Kairi were all having a rather easy time beating back the Heartless wave. It wasn't an immensely powerful force so the battle was rather easy going for the crew. During this fight, Sora and Kairi decided to take Claudio's advice and try some new Elemental Composition and Form Manipulation out. Sora was able to cast Water, Aero, Haste and Shell while Kairi managed Magnet, Aero and Reflect. It got a little crazy with Sora creating a wall of fire to stop advancing Heartless and Kairi trapping a group of Heartless in an Aero cyclone while Riku used Dark Blizzaga, freezing them in a cone of purple ice. But they all failed to notice a certain Frenchman with a neat ponytail and a broadsword sneak by them and head up the staircase…

"BEAST!" A woman screamed. Everyone turned their heads to see Gaston hoisting a hostage Belle above on his shoulder and heading to the rooftop of the castle. "Help me! Beast!"

The Beast looked at the miserable, arrogant hunter stealing his love and snapped. He roared at the top of his lungs, a grand bellowing echoing off the rafters and shaking the castle to its foundation. The blast of anger destroyed several Heartless and Beast tore through the others in his mad charge.

"BELLE!!" He cried out, loping after Gaston and Belle.

"Beast, hold up!" Sora urged but he was too far gone to be reasoned with. Sora looked around the empty hall, it was pretty much devoid of Heartless, just a few droves left but he knew there was a chance they could propagate a prove a real menace.

Riku saw the concerned look in his eyes and spoke up. "You and Kairi go to help him, I'll take these guys on."

"Riku," Sora began. "They could multiply, I don't want you to get hurt."

"We'll stay with you and go help the Beast after." Kairi insisted but Riku shook his head again.

"I'll be fine alone." He said again. There was a mighty _BANG_ as the hall doors swung open and Claudio and Rain walked in, the weather had now turned into a thunderstorm.

"Maybe mate, but we won't know that." Claudio said to the Keyblader. "'Cause Rain and I will be here for you." Sora and Kairi both smiled at the camaraderie but Rain snapped them out of it.

"Go now!" She said. "Beast is in need of help, isn't he?" The two nodded and went off to follow Gaston, Belle and Beast.

**KHKHKH**

Atop the roof, the thunder crackled in the sky as Gaston brandished his broadsword at the Beast who fought timidly at best, not wanting to really injure the arrogant fool of a hunter. Gaston's ponytail had come undone and a maddening look possessed his face. Combine this with the flashing lightning and he looked more a beast than Beast. Belle had escaped Gaston's clutches and now was watching helplessly on the sidelines.

He charged the former prince and smacked him in the side with the flat of his blade. The Beast didn't even move as he went down with a thud. "When you're gone Prince…Beast," he said, raising the blade above Beast's head. "Belle will be all mine!"

The sword cut through the air but Beast finally came to his senses and bowled into Gaston, tackling him down on the rooftop.

Sora and Kairi got up to the rooftop to join Belle as Gaston and Beast began to swing at each other with wild blows. "Belle!" Kairi said, seeing her fellow Princess. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she said sullenly. "But Adam…I'm afraid of what might happen to him."

"He'll be okay." Sora reaffirmed. "Beast has had to deal with a lot harder things, I know he can do this."

At the roof's edge, Beast and Gaston were doing battle, swiping at each other with their claws and sword respectively. Beast was able to dodge the attacks but Gaston's fury and his reluctance to strike the hunter made him retreat amongst a line of angel statues. Gaston pursued, looking around the shadowy figures covered by the night. He thought he saw Beast and struck at it with his sword, chipping the head off a gargoyle with a clean cut.

"Do you think she'll love you now, Beast?" He taunted to the darkness, striking at each gargoyle he came across, getting closer to the inevitable end. "Do you think she'll stay with you? You're a monster! An atrocity! Answer me this! _Who could ever love a Beast?_"

Beast had it. He heard that statement to many times for his liking. He emerged from his hiding place, roaring and snarling in a mad rage and swatted at Gaston with one of his massive claws. The attack knocked the broadsword out of his hand, flinging it away off the roof. He then caught Gaston with a backhanded blow, sending him flying away and cracking his skull open, blood dripping from it.

Beast lumbered over to the downed member of Maleficent's Cabal, fuming and raging all the way. He grabbed Gaston by the throat and lifted him over the edge of the roof with little effort whatsoever. Gaston's eyes went as large as dinner plates and Sora, Kairi and Belle looked on in quiet horror.

"No! Please! Stop!" Gaston begged as he looked at the abyss below him. "I surrender! Please! I'll do anything!" Beast made no indication that he heard him.

"Don't do it Beast! He's not worth it!" Sora cried to his ally but he again made no motion to Sora's reaction.

"Adam! No!" Kairi shouted. Beast once again ignored her, preparing to drop Gaston over the edged and into oblivion.

"Adam! Please, don't do it! For me!" Belle cried out. This hit Beast true. Belle's soft and gentle voice finally reaching his ears. He couldn't perform such an action in front of her, no matter how much Gaston had wronged them.

He effortlessly tossed Gaston back to the castle roof and turned his back to him, approaching Belle. "Get out." He barked to the hunter.

Gaston propped himself up and glared at the Beast. He drew a dagger from his boot and then leapt upwards, plunging the dagger into Beast's backside…

Or he would have if a black, red and blue object didn't whiz through the air and catch him the shoulder. The force of the blow sent Gaston flying over and off the roof edge, plummeting to the ground below, screaming in terror all the while.

The Way to the Dawn boomeranged back to Riku's outstretched hand. He caught it and twirled it around, the four who were originally atop the roof looking at him with stunned faces.

"Riku…" Beast whispered harshly to the dark wielder. "In the short time you returned to my castle, you've saved both Belle and myself. I am truly sorry for the way I treated you." The Beast bowed deeply to the warrior but he waved the courtesy off.

"I told you," Riku replied coolly, walking to the castle edge. "Our debt is squared." The sky thundered again as it opened up and rain began to pour down on the warriors.

"Belle, I'm sorry," Beast apologized to his love. "I almost did something that I would never do. I could blame this form…but I just can't. I've always had a temper." She took her hands in his paws and looked her in the eyes. "Can you still love me…Beastly visage and temper and all?" He smiled sheepishly.

"Yes, Adam, of course I can." She embraced her love and he began to slowly twirl her around in a dance.

Kairi and Sora watched this spectacle and Kairi awed at the sight, placing her hands over her heart at the show of affection. Sora saw his chance.

"Kairi…" Sora began, nervous beyond all belief. He looked at her, even soaked by the rain and scraped up from battle; she was still the most beautiful thing imaginable. "Kairi, there is something I have to tell-"

"Hey there!" Claudio ringed, just arriving on the roof with Rain. "Everyone still alive up here?"

"Yeah Claudio," Kairi breathed, forgetting what Sora was saying. "Beast managed to beat Gaston!" Rain smiled slightly.

"All's well that ends well I guess." She said solemnly and motioned to the trapdoor back to the castle. "Now come, we still have a Keyhole to find."

Kairi walked off with Rain and Claudio walked to Riku, leaving Sora in a blank stupor as his 'opportune moment' was shattered.

'_Not yet, my friend.'_ Roxas chimed in. _'Not yet.'_

"Shut up Roxas," Sora mumbled sullenly.

Claudio had joined Riku up at the edge of the roof, seeing Gaston's dead body down on the ground, pretty much a ruined corpse. Several Shadow Heartless materialized in front of it and began to claw over the body, sniffing for a heart.

"Those who choose to dabble in darkness are doomed to fall into it." Riku stated sagely as he watched the Heartless prepare to tear their meal from Gaston.

Suddenly, in a wave of energy, the Shadows vanished and their red hearts floated in the air. They hovered in a moment and then drifted to a portal off in the shadows. They vanished into the portal and from out of the shadows stepped Creed.

"Guys, look!" Claudio cried to his allies as they rushed over to see the commotion.

Creed's hand pulsed with energy as he stiffened the fingers. "Sweet! A bunch of hearts for the taking and I didn't have to lift a finger, I'll have to thank the Keyblade Masters for all those slain Heartless. Man this rain is getting annoying, better get moving." He plunged his hand into Gaston's lifeless body. It entered a moment of spastic action before vanishing into darkness and Creed pulled out the red spiritual heart of the villain, causing it to vanish in a portal. "Hooray!" He declared unenthusiastically. "Now I get to go back to the base and sleep." He turned to leave but was blocked by three Keyblades and a stream of bullets.

He turned to see that Rain had teleported the entire group to the base of the castle, minus Belle who stayed behind at the Beast's insistence. Kairi, Riku and Sora re-summoned their Keyblades and the six looked at the Immortal with cold eyes.

"Oh, damn it!" Creed whined, blowing a soaking wet bang out of his face. "Why did this have to happen?"

"Shut up you whiney bastard!" Claudio snarled at the Immortal with the same fury he showed Kaiser and Ramziel. "It had to happen because you chose to mess with Beast and Belle!"

"Can't we just forget that?" Creed bemoaned. "You know, you forget that I tried to kill those two, I make for it and split from this world. Get everything nice and square?"

"Counter offer." Riku said to the Immortal, standing in his traditional combat stance. "We beat your ass until you give us the way to cure the Beast!"

Creed slouched over even more, his face falling flat and dead. He stood straight up, showing that he stood taller than Cassius, Ramziel, standing eye to eye with Claudio! He looked at the group with an annoyed distain.

"This day is just become one big, massive ass drag!"

**To Be Continued**

_Wow, I think this is a pretty good chapter, shows that I won't cram every world into one single chapter._

_I really enjoy writing for Creed. He's lazy, uninspired and overall just a slacker who would prefer to sleep when asked to doing a mission. Him and Kaiser are two of my favourite Immortals. Give me some feedback on the Immortals as they are introduced._

_(A/N1): Hamlet: Best. Play. Ever._

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	13. Painted Black

_That was simply amazing! More than 200 hits in 48 hours! Biggest spike yet! A big thank you to all my readers and reviewers who helped pick my spirits up! This chapter was going to go up Sunday or Saturday but I decided to put it up today as a gift for all of you, and a special thanks to ninjawitch93 for there (can't tell if you are a guy or a girl) very flattering and thoughtful review! This chapter isn't very long but it is important and is one of my favourite chapters amongst the bunch. Thanks to all my readers and keep on reading! Claudio…_

_Claudio: Angelo does not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, Square Enix, any songs or any other related works. He does own the plot, the Immortals, Rain and myself and is willing to give permission to those wanting to you us in any of your stories._

Chapter 13: Painted Black

The three Keyblade Masters, the two travelling warriors and the Prince cursed into the form of a beast all had their weapons drawn at the tall, lanky, lazy Immortal named Creed. Creed, who had no intention to fight, proposed a peaceful solution.

"Can't we just forget that?" Creed whined. "You know, you forget that I tried to kill those two, I make for it and split from this world. Get everything nice and square?"

"Counter offer." Riku shouted down to the Immortal, standing in his traditional combat stance. "We beat your ass until you give us the way to cure the Beast!"

Creed slouched over even more, his face falling flat and dead. He stood straight up, showing that he stood taller than Cassius, Ramziel, standing eye to eye with Claudio! He looked at the group with an annoyed distain.

"This day is just become one big, massive ass drag!"

"Then let's end your day." Riku threatened. "And your life!" He charged the Immortal but Creed simply bent backwards lazily and kicked Riku in the ribcage, sending him flying away.

"What do you even want, Creed?" Sora demanded of his enemy. Creed shrugged.

"Me? I want to go back to Infinity Paradiso and nap." The Keybladers glared at the lazy man. "But we Immortals, well, we want hearts." Sora eyed him suspiciously.

"Are you trying to craft another Kingdom Hearts?"

"No, no." Creed yawned, wiping away his dangling bangs, a futile effort due to the rain. "We're already complete beings. We just want hearts, dark hearts, light hearts, Heartless hearts, makes no difference. But, the stronger and more enlightened the better. So you can see why we would want to take the hearts of you five, Belle and the Beast."

"You can try, but you'll fail." Kairi warned the Immortal who simply shrugged off the verbal attack.

"Probably, but I'll still try. Now…" He began to check his sleeves and coat for something, but what, no one knew.

"Where are those damn crib notes?" He muttered, looking through his coat. "Man, I know it's around here somewhere! Aha!" They were on the upper side of his right forearm. "Okay…ah man! The notes are wet! What the hell? Is that a 'Z'? Okay…okay…let me look at this a different way… 'No.1: Slaughter the Keyblade Masters'… how subtle Kira… 'No.2…Use the crystal on Kairi'?" He sighed loudly and reached into his jacket for the same crystal that he used when turning Adam into the Beast. "Twice in a day…drag…"

The amethyst crystal shone with a dark light and in an instant Kairi fell to her knees, gasping in pain. She covered her heart and her eye as a rose red and black aura rose up from her body. Claudio and Rain eyed her warily but Sora and Riku looked shocked. Sora went to console her.

"Kairi?" He asked but she didn't respond. "Kairi? Are your okay?" He placed his hand on her shoulder but instantly drew it back in pain, as if he just touched white-hot metal.

Kairi began to scream an unearthly scream Sora wouldn't think would be possible for Kairi. She went into a fetal position and began to rock back and forth slowly, still screaming, clutching her eye and heart and burning with that evil aura. She rose up from the ground…literally off the ground, levitating from it as if being drawn up by some unseen force. She roared in pain as the aura intensified.

And then, it just stopped.

Kairi fell down to the earth, eyes to the ground, but otherwise unharmed.

"Kairi?" Sora asked, hesitantly. He reached out for her but she rebuked the approach and then darted away. Making a mad dash across the bridge and out to the forest.

Rain looked at Claudio and Claudio to Rain. He nodded and made haste after Kairi. Rain jogged after Claudio, turning to speak to Sora. "You three stay here and handle Creed. We'll get Kairi back." She then ran off to join Claudio.

Riku looked at the two running figures with his normal suspicious eyes. "Sora…" he began hesitantly, not trying to sound to wary of the two strangers. "Will you and Beast be alright if I follow them?"

Sora nodded to his friend and Riku ran off to chase Claudio and Rain who were, in turn, chasing after Kairi. Sora looked to Creed who had a miserable look on his face, hands in his pocket, his normal slouch returned and water beading off his chin.

"So," he said flatly. "What's up?"

Sora swung the Keyblade through the air and rain and Beast growled menacingly. Creed looked at the legendary artefact weapon and the malicious beast in front of him and sighed again.

"Oh, right." He stated glumly. "_That's_ up…"

Both Sora and Beast charged Creed but he made no motion to dodge or even chose to draw a weapon. At the last moment he dodge Sora's side swing and Beasts lunging strike with lazy, yet lithe, dodges. Slow, lazy dodges and lacklustre forearm blocks parried Sora's swings, the Keyblade doing no apparent damage to the Immortal. Beast and Sora tried to pincer around the Immortal but he showed an unnatural agility in jumping over both warriors and landing away with perfect dexterity.

Sora charged after him but the attacks all missed or were blocked. He launched several large crystal blocks of ice that burst upon impact but did no more damage to Creed than the physical strikes. Sora then cast Aero on the Immortal but the violent vortex failed to cut him or even lift him off the ground, doing nothing more that moving his coat around. Sora and Beast used everything in their arsenal to try and beat Creed back but he either dodged or blocked most anything. Even when they did get a lucky blow in on him, it seemed to have no effect on the lethargic and apathetic Immortal.

Sora and Beast were panting from their futile effort while Creed was without any harm or loss of energy. He blew bangs out of his face, wiped the rain out of his hair and kicked the dirt nonchalantly before shrugging again.

"Are you two quite done?" He asked flatly, not even looking at the two warriors of light.

"What is with you?" Sora asked in rage, frustrated that he couldn't even damage his foe. "How are you still unharmed after all that?"

"Immortals all have their special powers," he explained, obviously tired and bored with Sora and Beast. "One of mine is my Steel Skin. It'll take more than your sword and magic to pierce my skin."

"Wait, 'one of your powers'?" Sora looked at the lazy man with furrowed eyebrows. "Why don't you use your other powers?"

"Five words." He said in a way that reminded Sora of Phil, the satyr trainer from the Olympus Coliseum, except that Creed actually used five words. "To much of a drag."

**KHKHKH**

Claudio and Rain were running through the forest, giving chase to their Princess, choosing not to use their increased speed as to be able to actually follow Kairi. They ran across dirt and timber and through rain and wood, the familiar smells of pine, earth, rain and dirt following them were every they went.

"So you're saying that Kairi did this on the Destiny Islands." Rain asked her husbands.

"Yeah," he answered, keeping a pace with his wife. "She got smothered by the Heartless and snapped, I had to use the seals to trap the darkness." He fell silent for a second, contemplating his next words. "Most likely the work of Kira."

"The darkness. The crystal. It just stinks of Kira." Rain confirmed. Claudio leapt over a down tree, peeling his eyes to the horizon to keep Kairi in his vision.

"And now they can induce the darkness with one of his crystals. Six years since we've encountered an Immortal and now they've got a brand new bag of tricks up their sleeves."

"What are you two talking about?" A new voice, Riku's voice, asked them. "Crystal? Darkness? Kira? Immortals? What is going on?" Claudio and Rain looked in between them and saw Riku standing in between them.

"What are you doing here?" Claudio asked in rage. "Rain told you to fight Creed."

"Sora will do fine against him." He replied, oblivious to Claudio's anger. "I am here to protect my friend, nothing more."

"No," Claudio responded to the boy. "You're here because you're still suspicious of even us after we saved your life and Kairi's." Riku's eyes flashed in anger.

"That's not it!" He declared loudly. "I'm here to watch over my friend." Claudio leered at him probingly, knowing there was more to the story. Riku obliged. "And…that darkness…it was too familiar."

Claudio's face softened. "I understand what you got to be feeling." Riku glowered at him but Claudio failed to register it. "But you need to trust us. We will protect Kairi from whatever is going on. We will protect her. We made an oath. So please, just turn back." Riku was about to reply to the warrior but Rain broke in.

"Too late," she said bluntly. "We got a beat on her." Claudio looked up and saw that Kairi was now right ahead of them. She was standing in a large clearing, enveloped in the moonlight and the rain.

"Damn it!" Claudio growled under his breath as the three stepped into the clearing to join Kairi.

As the rain fell down in hard sheets on the Princess of Heart, all three could sense something was wrong with her. A very faint aura was flitting off her and Riku could smell the darkness coming off her. She _reeked_ of the stuff. Where normally she smelt of the heavenly scent of pure light she now gave off darkness so strong and thick it could choke Xemnas.

Riku walked forward, despite silent protests from Claudio and Rain. "Kairi," he asked, as softly and kindly as he could. "Are you okay?"

Then something came that none of them suspected. She laughed. Not her normal, sweet, innocent laugh but one of wry amusement and pure malice. "Why Riku," she began, turning to face the three, her voice dark, wicked and twisted. "I'm perfectly fine." She turned to face all three of them. The left side of her face, neck and shoulder was covered in a veil of pitch-black shadow flames; her hair was spiked up in an evil and unnatural design and both her eyes were the same dingy yellow of the Heartless. She cackled wickedly as the dark aura began to spread off her body.

"Run." Rain said quickly. "Now!" She ran to the left of the clearing while Claudio followed, grabbing Riku by the arm. Both were using their superhuman speed now.

"What the hell was that thing?" Riku demanded as Claudio pulled him at an intense velocity.

"Kairi." He answered bluntly. "At least it is under that thing."

"No way, that isn't Kairi." Riku protested. "That thing is some kind of Heartless. It if full of darkness, Kairi has no darkness in her!"

"Riku, we'll explain everything afterwards." Rain told him. "Right now, we need to make a plan and try to seal all that darkness away."

"A plan! Oh, do tell Rain!" Kairi's twisted voice sneered. All three looked to the left and saw Kairi was running alongside them at an even speed! Before any of them could react she leapt into the air and moved for a midair kick. Claudio ducked but Riku wasn't so lucky as her leg caught him in the face and sent him flying away into the overgrowth of the forest.

Kairi summoned her Keyblade in a flash of darkness, the blade now tarnished and pitted with rust. She swung at Claudio who blocked it with both arms and threw her off. She bounded off a tree and swung her blade with a ferocious one-handed blow but Rain blocked the strike with Scarlet Queen in its scabbard.

As the two struggled in their death lock, metal scraping and sheath rattling, Rain shouted to Claudio. "Claudio! The seal!"

"In the name of the Radiant Garden, the Kingdom of Everlasting Light, darkness I banish thee from your host!" Rain jumped back as the orb of light washed over Kairi. When the nimbus receded she fell to the ground, unconscious. "Is it…over?" Claudio asked wilfully.

"Wrong!" Kairi spat at her family's bodyguard. Her darkness-infused body jumped up and smiled evilly at Claudio and Rain. "Thank you so much Claudio. That felt…amazing!" She charged him again, fist kicking Rain away and then slashing at him with amazingly powerful berserker blows. Claudio, who still hadn't drawn High Streak, was forced to dodge the blows and regenerate anything that may hit him.

"Why aren't you fighting back?" The demon that was Kairi hissed at the silver haired warrior. She slashed wildly, catching his bicep but the shallow cut healed in a few seconds. "Fight me, damn it!"

"No!" Claudio roared back, now using his ammo-less Low Cut to block some swipes. "I made an oath to protect you! I refuse to raise a blade to you! I refuse!"

"Then die by your choice!" She sneered at him, knocking Low Cut away from his hands and then kicking him down into the wet ground. She leapt up and started to come down with a furious two-handed strike.

Out of nowhere, a purple and black fireball roared into her and sent her flying through several branches. Riku stood on a tree's branch, palm still outstretched from his Dark Firaga attack. He was completely soaked, looking like a drowned rat and was covered in scrapes and bruises with blood dripping from his mouth. The demonic Kairi clambered out of the underbrush as Riku dove from the tree, Keyblade in hand. He met her with a thunderous clash of metallic ringing and sparks.

"You want a fight?" He raged at her, a looking of shock overtaking the faded yellow eyes. "You want a fight? Fight me!" A dark wind surrounded Riku and blew Kairi away with a massive typhoon force.

"Claudio," Rain said calmly despite the situation. "We need to set up the advanced seal." She looked around through the pouring rain. "We should go back to the clearing."

"Riku, can you hold Kairi off for a while?" Claudio asked and Riku nodded sharply, Kairi still not reappearing. "Okay, we'll get you when we need you." The two sped off back to the clearing while Riku sped off after Kairi.

He met her only a short distance after his charge, they both collided blades again and again and again as their furious song filled the night with a destructive symphony. Riku clenched his teeth hard as he parried each of her powerful blows and countered with a lightning quick slash, which she parried and delivered her own counterstroke.

Riku, who had let his fury get the best of him, was now also enveloped in a shadowy aura, similar to his past. He knew what this was like; he had this aura on him when he was Maleficent's apprentice, when he was in Castle Oblivion and when he had taken on the guise of Xehanort's Heartless. But now, for some reason or another, if felt right using the aura. He grinned with fierce determination and shove Kairi back after blocking a side chop and pushing her back with his physical strength and darkness powers.

Kairi had also taken notice of the dark aura. "How's it going for you hypocrite?" She taunted in the sinisterly screwed up voice. "What happened to not using the darkness? Not wallowing in it? Not being its pawn, not taking on its form, its power? Its marvellous power?" She said the last question with a shiver of ecstasy in her distorted voice.

"I maybe using it," he shot back, sending wave after wave of shadow bombs at her, with her countering with shadow tendrils. "But it's for the right reason. I control it; it doesn't control me! I am done being a pawn of darkness." He charged with a dark flame. "Never again!" He roared, sending a torrent of the jet-black flames to devour her. She dodged deftly away from them and cackled at him.

"Bullshit!" She spat venomously. "Remember your own words. 'Those who choose to dabble in darkness are doomed to fall into it'? Looks to me like you're dabbling in the darkness right now!" She flew herself at him, a streak of black energy racing off her blade, destroying all in her path. He barely brought his blade up to block the empowered sword strike and was sent flying into the air for his troubles.

She flung the blackened Blooming Radiance at him, the spiralling blade catching him in the shoulder, blood exploding from the wound. He fell back down to the forest floor, landing on all fours, cursing loudly as the pain coursed through his body. Kairi crept up to him, laughing at his pain and licking the blood off her Keyblade.

Riku growled at her and through the pain he drove his Keyblade into the soft earth, darkness pooling from it. He dragged the blade out and a massive wave of darkness nearly sliced Kairi down the middle. She stared at the smoking gouge in the land were Riku's shadow wave had carved it. When she turned to see him he pounced off the ground and tackled her to the ground. Anger had numbed all the reasoning and feeling in his body as they both tumbled along the muddy ground, thunder booming and lightning flashing all along the way.

He had managed to get into a top mount position, both having lost their Keyblades along the way. Riku balled both his hands into fist and began to strike at the demon's face. The first blow landed with a dull _thud_, bruising her cheek. The next one cracked open a wound on her skull and the third landed with a sickening _crack_, breaking her nose as blood streamed from it. He pulled back for a fourth but ended up hitting her re-summoned Keyblade. Pain coursed back up his arm as he ended up slicing his fist on the razor sharp metal. She kicked him off of her and charged again, Keyblade running in the dirt.

Riku came to his senses and elbowed her in the collarbone and summoned his Keyblade, smacking her in the ribs and the temple with the flat of the blade. She stumbled away and Riku capitalized, jumping onto her and grabbing the collar of her dress. He levelled the blade with her throat and looked at her with eyes laced with unrelenting malice.

She grinned at this sight, honest to God _grinned_. "Do it you fool!" She urged with malice. "Do it. You'll eliminate one of your strongest threats but you'll also prove my point about the darkness. And Sora," she chuckled darkly, "see if he'll forgive you this time!"

His eyes flashed, the malice gone. But this hesitation was all she needed. She slugged him in the jaw, more blood and spittle flying from it. He stumbled away, struggling to stay to his feet. As he managed to get back up he felt the cold steel of a blade slice through clothing, flesh and muscle as Blooming Radiance cut him in the ribs. He gasped in pain as Kairi spun him around and grasped his collar, the rusted blade levelled at his throat now.

"You, sir, are an idiot!" She began to thrust the blade at him but something sped towards her and tackled her down. Rain stood up from the ensuing struggle as her namesake continually poured down on her.

"Riku," she yelled, "Claudio's finished! We have to move her back to the clearing to seal off the darkness!" She moved to help but Kairi jumped up and socked her in the gut.

"No chance you bitch!" She cried shrilly at Rain. "I like this much better than that weak girl being in control! You aren't changing this you beast!" Rain's eyes narrowed as she attached an energy strand to Kairi and flung her into a nearby tree.

"DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME THAT!!" She roared at her with berserk violence. " OR I WILL BREAK YOU!!" Rain charged at her, Scarlet Queen now drawn from its sheath, and bashed into Kairi with the flat of the blade, sending her away back to the clearing.

Rain gritted her teeth as more rain continued to spatter onto her. "Rain…" Riku began, startled by her show of anger. She seemed to always be the calm one amongst all of them, the most in control. "I…"

"No time for explanations." She told him bluntly, walking to where she sent Kairi. "Are you hurt much?"

"Yeah, but I can walk." He got up; bit passed the pain and charged down the path alongside Rain. The ferocious assault Rain had delivered seemed to have taken all the fight out of the demonically possessed Princess as the two batted her back to the clearing where Claudio had set up a massive seal on the ground.

It was composed of two rings of glowing light, one ten feet in diameter and the other large enough to fight only a single person. Eight spokes of golden light connected them and each part of the seal was made of a shining runes. Riku gawked in what Rain and Claudio had done.

Claudio, who was standing atop a tree near the outer ring and also glowing with a golden nimbus, barked at Riku and Rain. "You two! Get her to the center ring and hold her there for a little bit."

They did as they were told, batting her into the center circle…but that was the easy part. Any time Rain tried to use the 7 Rose Draw to hold her down she would dodge the tendril and strafe around them. At this rate, the seal would fade before they could get her in the center.

"Rain!" Riku said, seeing their conundrum. "Bait her into the circle using the Draw, I'll take it from there."

It took five minutes of constant energy lashes to keep Kairi at bay but they finally got her on the edge of the inner circle. Riku was now covered in the darkness once again. He stretched his arms out and focused all his energy into a concentrated form.

"Come, Guardian!"

The Heartless shadow rose from behind Kairi and grappled her shoulders, planting her onto the center seal, Claudio grinned at his opportunity.

"In the name of the Radiant Garden, the Kingdom of Everlasting Light, darkness I banish thee from your host!"

The outer circle was dragged into the inner one by the runic chains spokes, engulfing the center circle in a tiny cylinder of light. Kairi rose from the ground, crying in pain and agony as the light purged her shadowy demon from her heart. When it faded away, she collapsed on the ground, the only sign of her possession being the wounds she suffered from the battle. Rain ran up to her and cradled the unconscious Princess in her arms and Claudio leapt from his branch with the trademark cocksure grin on his face.

"Nothing like a job well done, eh?" He joked; no one laughed though, not even Claudio. Rain and Claudio were aware of what was happening but Riku was as confused as he was when he began the chase.

He strode up to Claudio and punched him square in the jaw, levelling the much taller man.

"What the hell is going on?" Riku shouted down to Claudio, wincing past the pain of his wounds as Rain continued to cradle Kairi in her arms. "Suddenly Kairi is taken over by the darkness and this has something to do with that Immortal, Kira? Tell me, what's happening! Aren't Princess's of Heart completely devoid of darkness?"

Claudio got up, rubbing his bruised jaw. "That is true," he managed despite the pain in his jaw. Riku had quiet a punch. "But Kairi doesn't have any darkness _in_ her heart but it instead _around _her heart, trying to smother it."

"What do you mean?" Riku asked warily.

"You told me that Kira had an earlier confrontation with Kairi, correct?" Riku nodded in response. "During this confrontation, did Kira stab Kairi with a blade?" Riku nodded again, as did Claudio. "There you have it."

"What?" Riku was confused, but normally he was when he was with Claudio. "Because Kira stabbed Kairi, she has darkness in her heart?"

Claudio sighed. "Almost, but let me explain. Kira is a master of darkness; he can conjure and manipulate shadows and darkness. When he stabbed Kairi with his blade, he injected an insurmountable amount of darkness into her system. Unable to infest her heart, it hovers around it, threatening to smother it. This darkness can be awoken on certain occasions. When she is highly stressed or threatened by darkness it will manifest itself. This happened on the Islands when the Immortals attacked. And, apparently, it can manifest itself when an Immortal uses one of those weird crystals. And, I guess it can manifest itself into different forms." He sighed again but Riku looked at him oddly again.

"And why would they want to do this?" Riku asked. Claudio shrugged in response.

"Who knows? Maybe they want her to go nuts and kill one of us. Maybe it means one less Keyblade Master to deal with. Maybe they can manipulate her in this form. Maybe they want her Heartless, Nobody and Fell Soul. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. I don't know but what I do know is that no Princess of Heart has had darkness within her and so the results will be unexpected but are guaranteed to be bad."

"How do you know all this?"

Claudio smiled at the white-haired boy and replied in one word. "Terra."

Riku winced again as pain shot up his body. "What do we tell Sora?"

Claudio's eyes narrowed. "We don't tell him anything. We lie."

"What do you mean?" Riku was rather incredulous. "Sora loves Kairi. We don't tell him why? He has a right to know."

"If Sora knows," Rain replied. "Then he will be constantly worried with Kairi's condition, maybe even forcing her to stay home from now on. Terra gave use explicit instructions that all three of you were to stay on this journey."

"There's also the fact that Sora is rather impulsive." Claudio said. "If he gets wind of this then he will start gallivanting around, trying to find Kira and the cure. Sora is in no way strong enough to defeat Kira right now." He looked sharply around to the others. "None of us are."

"Then what do we tell Kairi?" Riku questioned brusquely.

"The truth." Claudio replied, equally as brusque. "I'll watch her tonight and when I wake, Nam and I will talk to her."

"Nam?" Riku cocked an eyebrow. Claudio realized Riku's question and laughed.

"My little nickname for Namine. I got to talking with Nam and Rox last night. They're good kids…or rather good astral projections of Sora and Kairi's Nobodies."

"So we keep Sora in the dark and tell Kairi she turned into a cruel and sadistic monster." Riku repeated. Rain gave Claudio Kairi to carry and Rain took one of Riku's arms over her shoulder. They all linked hands with Rain and she teleported them all away.

**KHKHKH**

Sora and Beast were still dealing with the annoyance know as Creed. The Steel Skin had lived up to its name, preventing any and all attacks against the Immortal, no matter how powerful they were. Creed though, he had put up no sort of offence except to counter attacks from his enemies. Even these light blows were unbelievably strong, another benefit of the Steel Skin. Creed was scowling at the battered Beast and Sora, looking at them with a bored distain.

"I don't like to fight," he moaned to the two. "And you two remind me why I don't. I can never find a strong enough opponent to excite me. Everyone I fight is too boring even to pierce my Steel Skin." He turned his back to the two. "Learn to fight and call me then kid. Until then, I'll be asleep." He waved lazily to them and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Beast called to him before he could vanish. "I need you to turn me back into a human!"

"Oh yeah, that." He said flatly. "Didn't really mean that, y'know. Orders are orders." He snapped his fingers and Beast was engulfed in a bright light. The Prince Adam now stood once more. Creed didn't even bother to look and simply vanished into the air.

It was at this moment that Rain, Claudio, Riku and Kairi teleported back to the castle.

"Guys!" Sora exclaimed when they returned. He then saw his friend's injuries. "What happened to them?"

"Never mind us." Riku chuckled. "What happened to Beast?"

Prince Adam stood again on his human legs and looked to the four warriors who had just returned. "I'm me again." He smiled, showing his perfect teeth.

"A much better smile, I must say." Claudio drawled to the Prince.

"You look the part of a Prince again." Rain agreed with her husband. "Now, where did Creed go?"

"He vanished." Sora replied quickly. "But what happened to Kairi? And you Riku?"

They looked around and saw what had become of the two teenagers during their brawl. Riku was bruised and battered all over from being slammed into trees and underbrush. His left shoulder was slice open as was his right hand and the right side of his rib cage. Blood dribbled out from his mouth at an alarming rate. Kairi was in even worse shape than Riku, though. She was burned, bruised, scraped and cut all over her body. Her cheeks were badly bruised, her pert nose broken and dripping blood and her forehead was cracked open as well. Her dress was torn all over the place and there was a large splotchy black bruise on her left leg. Even though Claudio and Rain had no real visible wounds, all four warriors were soaked from the rain and their clothes dirty and ragged from the mud and dirt of the forest floor.

When Sora had asked his question, everyone looked at each other nervously until Claudio spoke up. "She ran into the forest, the crystal must have shown her something terrifying. When we found her, she was knocked out and surrounded by a large amount of Heartless and Nobodies and Fell Souls."

"Are you all okay?" Sora asked, concerned for their well-being. The two men shrugged and Rain smiled slightly.

"Nothing a few potions and a day of rest won't fix." She said softly. "It's sweet of you to care though."

"Sora," Adam began to his long time friend. "And Riku. All of you in fact, you have once again saved my life and my world at your own expense." He bowed to the five travellers of the world. "If you should ever return, my castle is entirely at your dispense."

"That's okay Adam," Riku replied to the humbled Prince. "Like I said before, twice, our debt is square. You don't need to thank us."

"But, it seems we do need a place to stay." Rain stated as her namesake finally started to let up.

"How so?" Sora asked, clueless as always.

"We need to find the Keyhole and/or find a Keyblade Wielder, now don't we?" She replied.

But of course, as if on cue, Sora's Keyblade appeared before him. The corner stone of the entrance arch began to shine with a white glow and the faint outline of a Keyhole appeared in it. Sora fired a ray of light into the Keyhole and a loud locking sound emanated from the heart of the world. Then, a Blank Keychain rose from the bag strapped at Riku's waist and hovered in the air. Riku summoned his Keyblade and, using Rain as a balance, shot another beam through the Keychain, the beam passing through and into the sky.

"Now we don't." Claudio answered his wife's question.

"Looks like we have to go Beast…uh, Adam." Sora smiled nervously. "Say goodbye to Belle and the others for us."

"Your world will be safe now." Riku added.

"Good luck with your love life my friend." Claudio saluted with a shallow bow, still cradling Kairi in his arms.

"Good luck on your journey, all of you." Beast waved goodbye as the warriors walked off to the Gummi Ship for the next world.

**KHKHKH**

After returning to the ship and getting everyone healed up and setting them in for a good nights rest, Claudio was still up. He had taken it upon himself to stay in Kairi's room to watch over her for the rest of the night, or until she woke up so that he could tell her what was going on and he alone. Shortly after Rain had healed her and dressed her wounds, Namine came into existence to keep watch with Claudio. Claudio sat in the corner of Kairi's pink, white and blue room either reading a book or tinkering with his little project while Namine sat quietly, wringing her hand nervously and periodically leaving the room to visit Roxas. After about four hours of watch, Namine entered the room again for the third time and Claudio looked up to her.

"So," he began slowly, sifting through text and video files of the digital journal, all on Drive Forms. "What does Sora have to say and think about are little romp through the forest?" He lifted his head towards the ex-Nobody and she smiled uneasily.

"According to Roxas, Sora doesn't know what is going on." She replied quietly, still wringing her hands. "He believes what you told him and is a little worried about Kairi." Claudio nodded lethargically and smiled slightly. "Roxas, though, he knows what is going on. I didn't tell him either, he guessed, I think, not trusting your explanation and it was nearly spot on." She stopped as Claudio scrolled through the paragraphs of information in front of him on the holographic touch screen. "What do you think will happen? When she wakes I mean?" He looked at her with his grey eyes and saw the uneasiness overtaking her body.

"She will wake up, a little sore, but totally herself. I've used that seal once before and have seen it used many other times as well, it fully banishes weaker darkness but…this darkness is too strong for a simple seal to banish it."

"How can she get rid of it though?" She asked shrilly, a spasm of grief overtaking her transparent body.

"I don't know Nam." He replied. "I don't know. She has to do it herself."

Namine slunk down into her chair, her body wracked in emotional pain from what Kairi had gone through. From how she described it, she couldn't move or talk or even breath, the darkness broke into her heart and smothered everything. Every memory and feeling shattered and each memory distorted, nothing was what it was suppose to be. She nearly broke down into tears describing it and so she sought out Roxas for comfort at Claudio's behest.

He was scribbling down more notes onto a pad of paper, his eyes weary from the long day and they were only getting worse as he stared at the translucent blue touch screen, sifting through all the information he had at his disposal. Kairi began to groan softly, instantly stopping his maniac writing. This was the first time she had made any noise since she passed out. Slowly, she stirred in her bed before rising from the sheets, blinking rapidly to adjust her eyes to the light.

Groggily, she asked. "What happened? Where…" She fell back into her pillows before she could complete her sentence and groaned wearily.

"Here." Namine offered Kairi a glass of water. The Princess took the glass and drank it down greedily. "How are you feeling?"

"My entire body is aching." She groaned in response, shifting restlessly as the pain pulsed through her body again. Riku and Rain had gone a little rough on her. "What happened?" She asked again. "Where am I? What time is it?"

"Near three AM, Your Majesty." Claudio replied. For the first time, Kairi took notice that Claudio was in her room. She looked at him with sharp eyes, no shot wide open and blushed as she realized she was in her nightgown and had medical bandages all over her body…including parts she didn't want anyone to see.

"Claudio!" She exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing in here?" He chuckled in amusement.

"Just to keep on eye on you when you wake. And don't worry, Rain and Namine were the ones who dressed your wounds." She sighed in relief that the two other female crewmembers had seen her naked and not anyone else. "Now that you are awake, I want you to tell me what you remember from when Beast beat Gaston."

She placed a hand on her chin and thought for a second. "We saw Creed and went to confront him. He then pulled the same crystal out that he used to turn Adam into the Beast and I felt pain in my body and then…" She scrunched her face in contemplation and came up blank. "I can't remember."

"Just as I thought." Claudio said. "Now then, do you want to tell her something Nam or should I?" Namine looked at him with those wide, blue eyes, now full of sorrow and grief instead of a normal quiet pride. "I'll take that as I should tell her" He sighed loudly and logged out of the digital journal, pushing aside his note pad and rubbing his eyes in exhaustion.

"When Creed pulled out that crystal and when you felt that pain in your body, it was because he had brought out darkness that had infected your heart." He stopped and saw that she was confused at what he was saying. She was a Princess of Heart and so shouldn't have any darkness in her heart, but according to Claudio she did now. What was he talking about? Claudio saw this in her eyes. "Now, this forces me to deal with an earlier part in the story. Do you remember when Kira stabbed you? Well, that is when the darkness infected your heart.

"Certain warriors can craft weapons out of powerful emotion, rumours are that that is how the Keyblade came to be. Certain warriors can fashion weapons from their sorrow, their grief, and their pain for things lost long ago. When they do fashion these weapons of darkness, they become knights of darkness. This is what happened to Kira, his ambitions and desires were torn away from him when he became a Heartless and Nobody. He then became an Immortal near instantly after being split, when this happen an Immortal retains the memory of their past life. Kira has him ambitions to drive him and this, along with his ability to manipulate shadows and darkness, he became a knight of darkness."

"But how is there darkness in my heart?" Kairi asked, trying to take in all the information presented to her. "I am a Princess of Heart, am I not? I can't have darkness in my heart!" Claudio clicked his tongue and shook his head sadly.

"True, that is all true, but the darkness isn't in your heart but _around_ it." He raised both his palms to face up and conjured some elemental magic. He created an orb of water in his right hand and a spiral of fire shot from his left and wrapped around the orb. "Take this as an example. The water globe represents your heart and the fire is Kira's darkness. The fire is hovering around the globe; if it enters the globe then the water will smother it. Just like your heart will do to any darkness." He then increased the flames until it was nothing but a solid orb of fire rotating around the now hidden water globe. "But the fire radiates heat and that heat will cause the globe to evaporate." The curtain of fire parted itself to reveal a few rising streams of mist. Namine then took up Claudio's explanation.

"From what Claudio has told me," she explained to her Somebody. "Kira has total control of the darkness and targeted you, stabbing you with his blade and injecting you with his darkness." Kairi looked at the two people who were explaining this to her with a confused look.

"But what," Kairi began, bewildered, "does this has to do with what happened to me on Beast's Castle?" Claudio sighed sadly and Namine looked at her with watery eyes, filling slowly with tears. This would be hard to tell her.

"When Creed used the crystal on you," Claudio began, Namine in no shape to speak. "You ran away into a clearing in the woods. We, Rain, Riku and I, followed and found you, completely taken over by the darkness." She gasped slightly, fear filling her eyes. "Dark flames covered you skin, your eyes were yellow…everything about you screamed darkness. You attacked us, tried to kill us…" He was trying to be soft and kind when speaking of the event but was failing. "Riku managed to hold you off long enough so I could seal the darkness within you. The darkness Kira gave you…" Kairi was clutching at her sheets tightly, scared to even breath. Claudio began to explain what had happened in greater detail and Kairi was scared witless. She tried to kill Riku? It didn't seem possible and yet, it almost seemed familiar. By the end of the tale both Namine and Kairi were crying and sobbing in pain and fear.

"But…but…" Kairi sniffled. "Why did Kira do this? Why did he give me the darkness?" Her body was wracked by a terrible, shuddering sob. Namine held onto her tightly and tried to calm her down.

"I don't know," Claudio said to his Princess. "What Kira and the Immortals could possibly get from infecting you with darkness, I don't know. No one has ever done this to a Princess of Heart so I can't give you an explanation." Kairi shook her head wildly.

"No, no, no," she said meekly. "What I mean is, why me? You said he chose to stab me but why? What made him do that?" Claudio sighed loudly and rubbed the bridge of his nose and massaged his temples.

"Kairi. Namine." He looked at the two scared and tired girls with grim grey eyes. "What I am about to tell you cannot leave this room or your mouths. You cannot tell anyone about this. _Anyone_." He put massive tense on the last word. "You cannot tell a soul. Not Riku, not Sora, not Roxas, not anyone else we might meet along the way, no one. Do you understand? Because once I tell you this, it's out there and you will have to face the truth one day or another. Do you truly understand?"

Both girls nodded wildly.

"Kira, the Immortal Kira, chose you as his target because he has a vested interest in you Kairi. You may not know it, but you have met Kira before, not Kira exactly but you have met him. You cannot remember but you did. And so have Rain and myself. It has been six years since we, Rain and I, have fought an Immortal. Six years ago we saw Kira and we felt déjà vu around him. Then we found out who he really was…" He sighed loudly again and saw the anticipation in their eyes. The next nine words caught everyone off guard and hung in the air for a good while.

"Kairi. Kira, is the Immortal of Kross, your brother"

**To Be Continued**

_Dun-dun-dun! And the first plot twist is revealed! Smart readers could suspect this from chapter five when Kira called Kairi over in her dream. What will the possible ramifications of this be?_

_I need to do more one-on-one and two-on-one fights, they play much more to my strength as a writer. Kairi vs. Riku is the best one so far._

_Creed is just awesome. He may seem to be overly powerful but by the end they'll take him down. Creed is just awesome. I think he's one of my favourite characters._

_And for those of you who think that I have forgotten the Blank Keychains, the next world will feature the first wielder. This world has never appeared in Kingdom Hearts before and comes from a very successful manga and anime series. Let speculation begin!_

Journal Set #3:

Creed

The Fourth-Ranked Immortal, Creed is lethargic and lazy, preferring to sleep and layabout instead of actually doing missions. Because of this, his rank has suffered even though he is considered the second strongest member. He appeared at Beast's Castle and manipulated both Beast and Kairi before leaving. He didn't display his full power but possesses 'Steel Skin' making him invulnerable to most any attack.

_Oh, Immortal rankings are determined by a combination of when they joined, their relative power to other Immortals and the amount of missions they've completed._

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	14. Equivalent Exchange

_Time for some Keyblade Master action! Guessing the Keyblader for this world should be easy too. Also, a note, my finals end after the 20th, which means I should be able to write up a good chunk of chapters during the summer… right now I am stuck on writing a world, that is (for the most part) a carbon copy of the movie so it will take some time._

Chapter 14: Equivalent Exchange

When a ray of light shot from the Blank Keychains, the Gummi Ship would always follow that course, didn't matter how hard they tried, the Ship, which they found out was dubbed _Avenger MK II_, would continue to follow that set track. They had no clue where they were going but it must have been a far off world as they'd spent two days travelling since Beast's Castle. Everyone had done there own thing amongst the two days, the first day was spent mostly relaxing considering their night at the Castle and whenever they could, they trained. Sora worked on new Elemental Composition and Form Manipulation and battled his hardest foes in the Simulator Room. Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Saix, Demyx and Luxord all went down once again to his Keyblade to improve his skills. Kairi also worked aside him in training but Riku followed a different path. He would spend times in simulations, training against unknown foes for unknown reasons. All anyone knew is that every time Riku would come out of the simulation room, he was exhausted and haggard. Claudio thought either Riku was working on a new technique or he was fighting enemies at the maximum level. Rain and Claudio impressed everyone with how fast they dealt with whatever the simulation room cooked up for them. Kairi worked at her sword fighting with Rain and Elemental Composition and Form Manipulation with Sora. Sora also taught her how to High Jump, Dodge Roll, Quick Run, Aerial Dodge, Glide and Fly (with the help of summoning Tinkerbell). Rain taught Sora and Kairi magic that had uses outside of combat like being able to conjure items, clean and repair clothing and create new clothing. Claudio, whenever not training alongside Riku or Rain, would chat with Roxas and Namine or work on his project (which he still yet refused to tell anyone the purpose of). Claudio also took it upon him to teach Kairi how to use her own light, a natural power imbued within her as a Princess of Heart and he was teaching her how to use it like magic. So far, it wasn't going terribly well.

By the third day, Sora and Kairi were once again training how to use the mobility abilities. Kairi already had everything down excluding Glide. Claudio was watching from the sidelines, working on his project (which by now had taken the from of a silver disk that had mechanical workings on the inside), as were Roxas and Namine. They were sharing laughs as Kairi hovered a few feet off the ground before falling flat on her face. Roxas thought this was odd since Kairi could already fly.

"What is the purpose of learning how to skim the air if you can already freaking fly?" The blonde Nobody asked, exasperated. Claudio tinkered with his device and shrugged.

"Maybe flying takes more energy." He offered, rerouting a series of wire in the disk and getting an electrical shock. "Ah! Damn it!" He cursed loudly, fumbling with the disk and swearing loudly. "This thing is worth more trouble than the positives!" Namine peered over to the disk questionably.

"What is it that you're making anyway?" Namine asked him.

"Like I said, Nam." Claudio replied, still fumbling with the wires and chips inside the disk. "It's a secret." He then forgot about the disk and looked over to the two Nobodies. "Wait a minute. It's the middle of the day and Sora and Kairi are awake. How are you two not attached from them?" He looked them over once more with a scrutinizing eye. "And why are you not semi-transparent too?"

"Well, we never knew would could detach from them when they were awake." Roxas explained. "We never had a reason to leave in the day but now that we have you and Rain to talk to, we tried separating and it worked." He laughed to himself. "The non-transparency is just a perk." Claudio nodded absently minded as he began fiddling with the disk again, getting another set of electric shocks for his trouble.

"Bastard!" He growled at disk. The door that led to the second Simulation Room zipped open and Riku walked in, panting and wearing torn and scorched clothes. He sat down on the couch beside Claudio, Roxas and Namine and smiled faintly.

"Those two still working on gliding?" He asked wearily. In response, Kairi floated a few feet above the ground but the second she tried to move she fell flat on her face and whimpered. "Wow, she can be a real klutz."

"Not as much a klutz as you when you wore that stupid blindfold." Roxas mocked and Riku grinned faintly, not giving a response. "What' up? Usually when I insult you, we have a verbal sparing match." He shrugged, also wearily.

"Not up for it, training really wore me out." He turned to Claudio, who was absorbed in his work. "You got an ether or a potion?" Claudio grumbled incomprehensibly and tossed him a blue bottle and a blue cube, never looking away from his work. Riku drank the clear liquid in the bottle to clear up his wounds and crushed the cube over himself, letting the blue dust restore his energy. He bounded up and leapt from one foot to the other, punching the air like a boxer.

"Back to your old self." Roxas declared. Riku grinned sharply at the Nobody.

"Damn straight, Chocobo Hair!" Riku back flipped away energetically as Namine giggled softly and Roxas mouthed 'Chocobo Hair'.

"Riku," Namine said as he leapt across the viewing room for the Combat Trainer. "Settle down, you're going to wear yourself out." He did as he was bid by the other blonde Nobody and rested on the far wall, sighing contently. "What are you doing with your training anyway?"

"Can't tell," he breathed, "it's a secret."

"You're trying to fight without using the darkness." Claudio answered, not looking up from his work.

"How do you know?" He asked. Claudio shrugged as he got another electric jolt.

"I saw you training last night at 1, fighting Xemnas with just the Keyblade." He said, fiddling around with the silver utensils on his silver disc. "You got your ass kicked." He stated bluntly, Riku growled lowly in response.

"Well, after the other night…" The white-haired Keyblader trailed off, trying to avoid the unpleasantness. "That dark side in her just…got to me." He balled his hand into a fist.

"And here I thought that you had gotten over that stigma after you fought Zexion," Namine said. Riku shook his head.

"When I wasn't in the form of Xehanort's Heartless I would use as little of it as I could," he explained sadly. "But now with the Immortals, it seems my swordsmanship won't cut it. Only the darkness will." Roxas disagreed.

"If the darkness is your power you should use it. It's a powerful ability and you really shouldn't be afraid of it. Darkness isn't inherently evil, only if it is used to further your own ambitions. You used it to save Sora once, why not use it to protect them?"

Riku slumped down. "I'm afraid of falling into it… again." Namine then noticed something.

"Oh, it looks like those two are done." She said. They were in fact done, and were about to step out of the room. "See you tonight Claudio." The blue haired man nodded still enwrapped in his work. Namine and Roxas vanished into orbs of bright light and faded into Sora and Kairi as they stepped into the watch room.

"Do you two enjoy watching me fall on my face?" Kairi pouted to the two warriors. Claudio tinkered with his device and Riku shrugged slightly. "Hey, where's Rain?"

"Oh," Claudio said, finally snapping out of his zone. "She's in the cockpit, trying to get a read on any nearby worlds." And, as if on cue…

The speakers crackled on and Rain's voice came through. _"Hey guys, I think you should head up to the cockpit, we got a world in range. I think it might be the one we're heading to."_

The four nodded and walked up to the bridge were Rain was sitting at the main control chair behind the control panel. As the four warriors walked inside, she silently pointed to the view screen to show a world covered in green fields, tiny towns, train tracks, a desert and a large, industrial looking city. Underneath the world was a symbol etched below, it was shaped like a hexagram and made of red light. Claudio smiled shrewdly as he saw the world.

"I knew you would recognize that place." Rain responded to the smile and Claudio laughed.

"Yep." He boomed loudly. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Princesses and Keyblade Masters alike, I present to you: Amestris, the world of Alchemists!"

"Alchemists?" Sora asked, raising an eyebrow. "You mean like turning lead into gold? That sort of thing?"

"On the right track, but not exactly." Rain responded. "Alchemy is a science on that world, developed instead of physics on other worlds. It involves the analyzing of components in an object, breaking down the parts and then restructuring it into a new form."

"Sounds pretty cool," Riku said. "But how do you two know of this place? Terra, again?" Claudio shook his head.

"No, nine years ago we visited this place to do some odd jobs." Claudio explained with nostalgia in his voice. "Right before we went to Traverse Town to set up shop for good."

"So," Sora began, looking over the world again. "This is our next world?" Rain nodded quickly, the ship had stopped moving so it made sense that this would be it the world they were to land on.

"It seems so." Kairi pointed out. "It's a new world for all of us, it should be different."

Claudio was the first to walk to the teleporter bay. "Yeah, hopefully it will be a bit of a cake walk for once." He tilted back his head and laughed. "Fat chance of that though!"

As he walked down the halls, he closed his eyes and sighed. _This world could prove trouble if I remember it right._ He thought back on his experiences nine years ago. _A militaristic rule over the country, a legion of alchemists and soldiers at their disposal…if they know of the Keyblade then it could prove disastrous. And then there are the Immortals; they always had an eye on the powers of alchemy. Dollars to Keychains there will be someone on that world._ He looked to the ceiling and sighed loudly.

"You better not screw us over again like the Castle." He muttered just as the other came in behind him.

**KHKHKH**

The group arrived in the large industrial city they saw on the view screen, stepping out of an alley to see the city looked like it came out of the nineteen-twenties. Old fashion cars travelled on the cobblestone roads, buildings were made of simple stone and people walked around, minding their own business. The people that were the most noticeable were people wearing blue jackets and pants, ornamented with military badges and icons.

"This is different." Sora remarked at the bustling cityscape before him. "I usually don't go to worlds that are this modern." He looked at all the technology that he found outdated. "Even if they are a couple decades behind us." Claudio laughed slightly and stepped forward. He was now wearing a white, high-collared shirt with a black cross running down the left arm and a black swallowtail butterfly on the back.

"Yes my friend, welcome to East City." Riku chuckled at the name.

"'East City'?" He scoffed. "Jeez, the Alchemists must be pretty unimaginative to come up with that name. Let me guess, it sits on the eastern boarder of the world?"

Claudio shook his head at him. "You know, people on this world don't really like smart asses." Kairi stepped in to defuse the situation.

"So, who says we should look around?" She asked the group. "Try and find what we need to do on this world, right."

"She has a point." Rain agreed with her Princess. "We don't know anyone on that world so we might want to ask around to see if anyone has any info on the Heartless or the like." Claudio nodded.

"Right, although I might want to check up on that Mustang fellow that we met a few years ago." Rain smiled slightly.

"No, I think that guy was a bit of a douche." Claudio rolled his eyes and the others went off to find any information. Sora and Kairi left as did Rain and Riku with Claudio on his own.

They checked around and asked around, being as ambiguous as possible when it came to the Heartless, Nobodies, Fell Souls, Maleficent and her goons and the Immortals. Most people laughed at their explanations but a few did say that they'd heard rumours of black creatures with yellow eyes and a man in white. Nothing overly substantial came of it and so they made it to the steps of a large government building. Green cloths were draped over the roof of the building and showed a lion-like beast placed in a hexagram. Claudio was pretty much sleeping on the stairs when the others met up with him. Kairi walked over him and leered slightly.

"Hey!" She kicked him lightly and he groaned. "We only have room for one lazy bum on this trip." Sora looked offended.

"You still on me about that?" He whined. Claudio sat up, chuckling at the brown-haired warrior.

"Y'know, I really wasn't sleeping." He said to Kairi. "It's just I haven't done this much walking since we left the Islands. It's annoying." He sighed, exhausted. "How'd you guys do? Any luck?" They all shook their heads. "Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way…maybe we should look for a hero, y'know. Like, every world we find a really strong ally, pure and noble and all that jazz…maybe we should look for him?" Sora shrugged and sat down next to the silver-haired warrior.

"It's a good a plan as any." He said, reluctantly. Claudio was about to smack him but Kairi flagged down a passing man.

"Excuse me sir, we're looking for…well, I guess hero is the best term." She tried to string the words together to not sound insane; the man didn't treat her weird or anything. The man in question had short blonde hair and wore the blue military uniform that Claudio explained belonged to the State Military of this world. The badges on his shoulder indicated he was a Second Lieutenant. "Anyone you can think of that describes that?" He rubbed his chin and took out a cigarette and lit it up.

"Well, around here in the east there are two like that." He responded, puffing on his cigarette. "The Elric Brothers, kids no older then you." They looked at him curiously. "The younger brother Alphonse Elric and the older brother, the Fullmetal Alchemist, Major Edward Elric."

"Really," Sora replied. "Were can we find them?"

"Well, if I can remember right, Ed came back to East City for his re-certification exam so he should be here." The man replied.

"Thank you very much." Kairi welcomed the soldier. "Uh…Mr…?"

"Oh, I'm Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc." He offered his hand, which Sora took and shook.

"Thank you Mr. Havoc." He nodded and walked off. Claudio smiled slyly and stifled a laugh.

"Man, a full grown man and he's ranked lower than a sixteen year old." He chuckled behind Havoc's back. Sora stood up and walked away from the steps

"I guess we should go find this 'Edward Elric' kid." He announced. The others got up and followed him through the city. They asked around and found that Elric, especially in the east of Amestris, was a major hero. People described points of note amongst his career. "He stopped a cat burglar in Aquroya" one man would say or, "He got rid of that no good Yoki in Youswell." Wherever they went people had nothing but praise for Edward and Alphonse Elric…but they still couldn't find them.

"Argh!" Riku growled in frustration after a woman mentioned how Ed exposed the false prophet Cornello for the umpteenth time. "This is hopeless. We get the three same stories every time we ask for the Elrics but we're no closer to finding them!" Sora put his finger to his chin.

"We're just going about this the wrong way." He thought aloud. "Where should we look next?"

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A MINISCULE PUNK YOU NEED TO SEE WITH A MAGNIFYING GLASS!!"

The five stared blankly at the area where the roaring rant came from and blinked stupidly for a few seconds at the fury of the roar. The voice, and another voice, was now getting into a full-blown argument, with the first voice getting the upper hand. Finally Claudio broke the stupid, stunned silence. "Well, that looks like a pretty good place to start."

The five turned a corner to find the source of the commotion. Three people were standing and arguing (well, at least two of them were). The first one, the source of the rant, was a short boy, about five-feet tall, with blonde hair in a short ponytail. He wore a red trench coat with a hood, white gloves and a black shirt with pants and boots. Standing next to him was a person who made the boys height even more obvious. The person was over seven feet tall and wore a suit of armour. The final person, who was being yelled at, wore a military uniform, with decals designating him a Lieutenant Colonel, and had glasses and short black hair spiked up.

"Hughes," the short boy roared, enraged. "You better take that back!" The man smiled at the boy, which further egged him on. "And stop jerking me around!" The man shrugged.

"Hey," he responded coolly, "I'm just telling you what Mustang said, his exact words. 'Get back to base this instant and head to my office, shorty'." The boy growled again.

"Stop saying that!" He ranted. "And if you're off playing messenger boy, then send this to Mustang from me: 'I am not your lapdog, you morally corrupt Colonel with a God complex!'"

"Brother," the person in the armour said softly, in a voice that was male and surprisingly childish. "Maybe we should just go to see Colonel Mustang, he's helped us out so far, and we do owe him." Claudio and Sora walked up to the three arguing men.

"Um, excuse me but," Claudio began hesitantly to the short boy and the boy in the armour. "But are you two the Elric Brothers?" The two nodded. "Ha! You see Sora; I found them on the first go! Never doubt my instincts! So you," he turned to the man in the armour, "must be Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist." A vein bulged in the short one's head. "You must get that name from the armour you wear." The one in armour began to wave his arms in disagreement.

"No, no, no," he replied in his childish voice. "I'm not the Fullmetal Alchemist." Claudio raised an eyebrow at him while the short one leapt up in a fury.

"I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist you punk!" He roared. "Me! I'm Edward Elric! He's my little brother Alphonse! See!" He dug into his pocket and pulled out a pocket watched engraved with the hexagram and lion. "I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist!"

"You?" Claudio snickered as the other three followed in behind him. "You're his older brother? How? You're so freaking short!" Another vein bulged in Edward Elric's head.

"Yes I am!" Ed howled in anger. "And where the hell do you get off calling me short?" The petite alchemist jumped up to get into Claudio's face but he stuck out his palm and careened Ed to the ground.

"Brother!" The man in the armour, Alphonse Elric, wailed at his down sibling.

"Um, excuse me?" The man with the glasses spoke up. "But, do you mind telling me who are you people? Why are you looking for the Elrics?" Sora and Kairi walked in front of Claudio.

"I'm Sora," the boy greeted.

"And I'm Kairi." The Princess welcomed. "This is Riku, Rain and Claudio." They all waved or nodded to the Lieutenant Colonel.

"Well, my name is Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes." He said cordially. "Now, my second question…"

"Oh, well…" Sora, stammered a little, thinking up an excuse. Riku made the save for his slower friend.

"We're just travellers from... the west and we heard great things of the Elrics so we thought we might check 'em out." He said to Hughes. Maes smiled at the boy.

"You came to see the Elrics?" He pried, the others nodded, aware of their off-world situation. "Why come to see them when you can see these?" He reached into his pocket and pulled…baby pictures. "Isn't she just precious?" Hughes gushed. "It's my little darling Elysia. She's just so adorable. Oh boy, do you have to see this one…"

The five warriors looked at him with stunned, blank looks and even Edward and Alphonse looked embarrassed as Hughes cycled through his wallet. "Damn it Hughes!" Ed screamed at the older man. "Do you have to show those stupid things to everyone you meet?" Hughes sagged a little as he put his pictures away.

"I thought you loved Elysia, Edward…" He whined, sounding very hurt. Ed scowled at Hughes.

"Again, we don't have time for this crap!" He repeated again to the Lt. Colonel and the warriors. "Come on Al, we have research to do!" Ed began to strut off with Al following hesitantly.

"Hold up Ed!" Sora called to the Alchemist. When he turned around as he heard his name called, Sora saw the familiarity Ed had to him.

_I saw him during that dream._ He thought. _Just like Claudio. I wonder what the connection is?_

"What do you want kid?" Ed grunted to the Keyblader. At first Sora had to recover from the shock of being called a kid by a five foot tall fifteen year old.

"Um…have you noticed anything strange on your… I mean in this city or around the countryside?" Sora asked and Ed shrugged.

"Other than corrupt military officials and war survivors with arms that can break down any living object, then no." Ed drawled. "Unless you consider that strange?"

"How about ink black creatures with yellow eyes?" Kairi asked the alchemist. "Or white creatures that seem to have no bones?"

"Or creatures with a symbol on them shaped like a cross made of hearts?" Riku asked.

"Or a fat lummox named Pete." Claudio brought up.

"Or men wearing white cloaks." Rain tossed out. Everyone then stopped and thought for a second before it dawned on them. "Jeez, we have a lot of enemies…" Rain drawled sadly. Edward didn't look impressed.

"Can't say I have." He turned to leave again. "Now if you excuse me, Al and I have some business to attend to." He then marched off again.

"Hold on Ed!" Hughes called. "If I don't bring you back, then Mustang will flame my ass."

"Don't care." Edward replied callously.

Al stopped and looked at his brother. "But Ed," the younger Elric began. "What about all those rumours we've been hearing?"

"Al, those are just that, rumours." Ed replied to his brother. Kairi called out to them again.

"What rumours?" Kairi asked the younger brother.

"Oh, well, you see, they involve…I'm sorry but what's is your name again miss?"

She chuckled a little. "It's Kairi and you're Al, right?" The armoured Elric nodded.

"Well Kairi, they involve creatures like you described, black with yellow eyes and they attack people in the middle of the night. Whenever they attack someone, another one of those creatures appears in the former person's place." Al described and the other took in the familiar scenario.

"Definitely Heartless." Sora said, unneeded. Ed snorted.

"Don't listen to him guys." Ed said back to the warriors. "He just hasn't matured mentally is all, still believes in all those ghost stories and rumours." Riku shook his head.

"No, those aren't rumours. Its all true." He explained to the alchemist who looked at him incredulously. "The creatures are called Heartless and they do what your brother describes. Attack a person, feast on their heart and offers it to the darkness, creating another Heartless." Ed was about to argue again but Claudio cut him off.

"Guys," he said, pointing down a nearby alleyway. "Look!" Down the alley, several lithe, white figures appeared from portals of thorns and danced about in their snake-like way. "Nobodies." Claudio muttered at the sight of them, drawing Low Cut and High Streak, which he now hung from a chain on his back. "I smell an Immortal." The others drew their weapons and charged the Nobodies. Being nothing but Dusks, the group eliminated them in a few minutes with Ed, Al and Hughes looking on at the scene with wide eyes.

"What the hell were those things?" Ed demanded as Al stood behind him.

"I told you brother," Al insisted but Ed just huffed.

Hughes, who now began to walk away slowly, began waving wildly to the warriors and alchemists. "Um, hey Ed, I just remembered, I got to see Hawkeye and Mustang…you know…military stuff. Bye!" He then sped off from the others, Ed raging at the Lt. Colonel.

"Hughes! You coward!" He screamed as he ran. "Get back here this instant before I take out five years of anger and short jokes on you!" Al had ran up to Sora and the group.

"What were those things Sora?" Alphonse asked the brunette Keyblader.

"Those were Nobodies Al." Sora replied to the armoured boy. "Bodies that have lost their hearts and move around on their own willpower. What you described before were called Heartless, hearts taken by the darkness and turned into creatures that feed upon other hearts." Ed huffed yet again.

"We don't have time for these stupid ghost stories kid." Ed repeated again to the Keybladers. "We have work to do and it doesn't involve Heartless or Nobodies or ridiculously shaped swords." Riku, Kairi and Sora all looked at their Keyblades.

"Ed," Al began in a small voice. "I think these people might be able to help us in what has been happening lately." Ed looked at his younger brother for a second. "With what has been happening to us…that man."

"Al, that man is nothing more than another psychotic alchemist out to get us." Ed reasoned, a little to harshly, to his brother. Al's helmet dropped and Ed softened his tone. "What I mean is that, all these things that have been going on, they have a reason, something we can figure out. But I'll tell you this, no matter what that psycho alchemist says to us, we'll continued and finish the research Dr. Marcoh began." Al's helmet picked up as Ed smiled.

"Can you get anything right, Elric?"

The group turned to see the speaker and found him soon enough. The voice, which happened to be the third voice that spoke during the graduation ceremony, was a man with black hair tied back into a braided ponytail. He wore a clean white shirt and puffed-up pants designed like hakama that were tucked into greaves and knee pads on his legs. He also wore a steel breastplate that hung by straps on his shoulder, steel gauntlets with studs on the end and black socks. The split heart of the Immortals was emblazed on the breastplate and gauntlets.

Ed looked at him with suspicious eyes. "You again!" Ed was referring to the 'psycho alchemist'. "Who the hell are you anyways?" He asked the Immortal.

The Immortal waved the question away. "I could tell you." He said calmly, eyes closed, dismissing all things in the world. "But you wouldn't understand and…you're not going to be around long enough for it to matter anyway." The Immortal's eyes shot opened and he pointed to the diminutive alchemist. "Now, Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, time for you to die!" In a quick flash, a broadsword appeared in his outstretched hand. He spun it around and gripped it like a lesser man would grip a dagger.

"Nice try, Immortal!" Sora and the others moved to create a wall between The Elrics and the Immortal, all their weapons drawn.

"Well, it seems the pipsqueak has some luck to have you five here." The Immortal replied and Ed nearly blew-up when he heard 'pipsqueak' but kept his cool, knowing not to lose it in such a heated situation. "I am the Tenth-Ranked Immortal, Aeron." He snapped his fingers and five Savant Fell Souls appeared behind him. "Take care of them grunts…the Smelric Brothers are mine!" The Fell Souls swooped in to attack the Keybladers but they eliminated them in short order.

Aeron nodded lazily as he saw the quick destruction of the Savants. "So you've become stronger since the last time. Well then," he snapped his fingers again and two more Fell Souls appeared behind him. Each enemy was seven-feet tall wearing red, segmented shogun armour. They had high red helmets with the Fell Soul symbol topped with golden horns and had burning yellow eyes and pallid purple skin, each one wielding a ten-foot glaive in one hand. Aeron smiled cockily at the new Fell Souls, "looks like I'm going have to raise the ante. Obai-Ko, attack!"

The two Obai-Ko Fell Souls moved in for battle, with Claudio and Sora meeting them, bringing the Keyblade and High Streak to meet with their glaives. Aeron watched in amusement as they battled. He then spied Riku, Rain and Kairi trying to help out their friends. "Now, I guess it isn't fair for you three to be left out of the action." He remarked cruelly and snapped his fingers once more. Three more Fell Souls appear; the first two were female with reddish-pink skin and their left arms replaced by white bird wings. They had sharp, ovarian faces, talons for feet, the Fell Soul symbol on their chest and carried large, one sided broadswords. The two Harpies swooped to attack Rain and Riku. Kairi tried to engage them as well but a blue energy arrow flew to her feet and she startled backwards. A new Fell Soul stood away before her. It had scaly grey skin, six arms and for a head, a single eye mounted on a stalk. The Fell Soul symbol was in the pupil of the red eye and it held three bows in three arms and three arrows in the other hands. The Enigma knocked three more arrows into its three bows and fired them at Kairi, who nimbly danced away from the energy arrows.

Kairi dashed towards the Enigma but it fired off several rounds off energy arrows to keep her away. Anytime she tried to charge it, the Fell Soul fired off its arrow barrage and retreated from the Princess of Heart. She was grazed by a few of the arrows, but nothing overly substantial. Even when she used Quick Run or Glide, the beast would strafe around and shoot at her with its blue energy arrows. It also seemed as if the arrows were growing in size as the battle progressed and its accuracy was increasing rapidly. Where at once she could just dance away from an arrow, now they were grazing her flesh and one even caught her in the shoulder. She fell down and cursed softly as she clutched the wound. The Enigma began to stalk her, all three bows knocked and ready to fly, the blue arrows were let loose and Kairi reacted as fast as she could.

"Aerora!" A wall of wind appeared before her and caught all the arrows. She closed her eyes and then manipulated the wind wall to fire the arrows back at the Fell Soul. Two arrows returned back to there bows and destroyed them while the third hit the Enigma in the chest. Kairi pointed her Keyblade at the Fell Soul and blue electric energy danced at its tip. "Thundaga!" She shot a ray of proton electrical energy from her Keyblade, zooming to the Fell Soul and impaling it through the eye, causing it to vanish into a dark mist.

Rain was deadlocked with her Harpy, clashing blades constantly as the Harpy nimbly flew about in the air as the two continued their dance of death. The creature was amazingly fast, able to dodge all of the 7 Rose Draw and swoop around to Rain at odd angles. She countered with her speed and teleportation but not even that was enough for the wickedly fast creature. Rain parried a downward hack, and sidestepped a lunging thrust, the Harpy rising high into the air on the follow-through and then dive bombing onto Rain, she teleported away, appearing seven-feet away from the Fell Soul and in the air. The Harpy circled around her and smacked into her back with the flat of its sword, Rain rolled to the ground and winced as pain shot up her back. The Harpy then spread its one wing and flapped it, showering a gust of wind onto Rain, picking her up into the wind and scratching her. She herself crashed to the ground, out of breath from the barrage of strikes. The Harpy, still above her, lunged through the air like a spear but Rain was prepared this time.

"7 Rose Draw No. 5: Shield of the Scarlet Flowers!" The red shield appeared before her, the Harpy ramming into the energy wall and sending it rebounding away, the sword tumbling out of its hand. "7 Rose Draw No. 1!" The energy lash gripped onto her foe as she slung up to it and then delivered a series of punches, kicks, and sword slashes. She dropkicked away from the beast and landed gracefully away from the dazed Harpy. "7 Rose Draw No. 4: Buster!" The disembodied energy hand gripped the discarded sword and hurled it through the Harpy like a javelin and the Harpy vanished away.

Riku just watched as his Harpy hovered in the air, brandishing its blade menacingly at the white-haired warrior. It swung it around in wide, fancy arcs, as if threatening Riku with its superior skill. When it finished the display, Riku shrugged, smiled smugly and hurled his Keyblade like a spear, impaling and killing the demon instantly.

Claudio and Sora both blocked the thrusts of the polearms of the Obai-Ko Fell Souls, the demons trying there hardest to impale the warriors of light. Magic wasn't effective at this close range so it was a pure melee battle, Sora blocking thrust after thrust with the flat of his blade and Claudio trying his earnest to throw the Fell Soul off balance as it attacked with its bladed staff. Aeron had taken the time to summon more Heartless and Nobodies in the streets to deal with Riku, Kairi and Rain, most of the people on the street had fled but a few remained as a wide-eyed crowd, gawking at the spectacle before them.

Claudio hastily sidestepped a glaive thrust, the blade nearing a lamppost and sparking against it. The Obai-Ko decided to attack again but Claudio kicked the blade away with his foot, causing the demon to tip slightly. Claudio threw his blade into the air and then ran to the post, grabbing onto it and swung around, propelling the demon away with a momentous kick. He leapt off the pole and flew into the air, grasping High Streak and revving the trigger. "Prism Chain Arts, Striking Style: Blade Wave!" He descended from the sky, driving the blade into the stone road, the cement splitting, a shockwave rippling from the point of contact and slicing the Obai-Ko with great force.

Sora leapt aside as Claudio's shockwave managed to hit his Obai-Ko, but not with the same force. The Fell Soul staggered and Sora took advantage, casting a Fire spell in the form of exploding fire rockets, they impacted against the demon that once again staggered from the explosion. Sora then cast Aero, making it take the form of a wind drill, piercing the armour of the Fell Soul and destroying it instantly.

Aeron fought against Ed while Al watched from the sidelines. Ed was nimbly dodging Aeron's quick sword strikes, using his tiny size to dodge them but Aeron didn't seem to mind. The Immortal grinned as Ed helplessly tried to avoid the slashes, backing away to provide distance between him and his foe, Aeron grinned and wielded his blade around, thrusting forward to skewer the older Elric. Ed brought up his right arm and caught the blade in the gloved palm, the point skittering off it like it was rock.

_That's odd,_ Sora thought as he was wading through the Heartless and Nobodies, _the blade should have pierced his hand, but it just bounced off it. What's with that guy?_

Ed punched Aeron with his right and then backed away again, he clapped his hands together and placed them on the ground. There was patch of blue light and it looked like Ed pulled a spear out of the ground. He gripped it in both hands and began to dance with the Immortal.

"Claudio?" Riku hollered, swatting away Heartless. "Was that the alchemy of this world?"

"Yeah," Claudio responded, shooting down some Sniper Nobodies, "but usually alchemists have to do something before hand." Riku raised an eyebrow at the warrior.

"Alchemists need to draw an array on the ground." Rain picked up, speaking to the white-haired boy. "It's called a 'Transmutation Circle', used to harness alchemical energy to perform it. Ed must be really skilled to be able to use it without a circle."

Ed was wielding the spear he had created, aimed at Aeron. The Immortal hefted the blade onto his shoulder and smile easily at the alchemist. "Come one Elric," Aeron goaded the small alchemist, "show me how you use that toy, tiny." A vein bulged in Ed's head.

"I'll show you not to call a person tiny!" Ed charged with his spear but Aeron chose to summon another broadsword and clashed their blades together, in a flash of light they disappeared and now Aeron gripped a trident in its place. "What the hell?" Ed looked at the newly summoned polearm. "What kind of alchemy is that?" Aeron dodged a thrust and huffed loudly.

"Alchemy? No, no cheap parlour tricks for me!" The warrior scoffed as he began to fight against Ed with a series of quick thrusts and wide slashes with his tri-pronged blade while Ed tried defending with his spear, bringing the pole in between the prongs and twisting to try and wrest the trident from Aeron's grip. Ed charged and thrust his spear at Aeron but it simply scratched the breastplate as Aeron danced to the side. He swung his trident in a wide arc and smacked Edward with the flat of his trident edge.

Ed crawled on the stones as Aeron wheeled his trident over his head and brought it down, Ed rolled away as the trident pierced the stones. Aeron tried to wrench it out of the stone but he had put too much force on the blow and it was dug in deep. Ed took the opportunity to attack Aeron with a series of rights and lefts, his spear dropped when Aeron hit him. He charged in for a kick but Aeron caught the attack and tossed Ed away.

In a flash, the trident separated into the two blades, he wrenched one blade out from the stone where the trident was stuck and marched towards the downed Elric brother. He brought the blade up over his head and then sent it down.

_CLANG!!_

The metallic clash ringed through the air as Aeron hit the younger Elric brother, Alphonse, who had gotten in the way of the attack. Ed stared on in disbelief.

"Al…" He was stunned at what his little brother had just done. "What are you doing? You should get out of here, now!" Al shook his helmeted head as he continued to block Aeron's slashes and attack with punches and kicks of his own.

"No brother," Al said in a steel strong voice. "You've always protected me so now it is my turn to repay the favour. You help Sora and the others, I'll fight this guy." Aeron sneered at the comment.

"What? You fancy yourself a great warrior?" He laughed at Al before striking him away with a gauntleted hand. Ed rose in protest but Aeron swatted him away with a jab from the pommel of his blade. "Don't make me laugh Alphonse. You aren't a warrior. You and I both know that. You're barely an alchemist when compared to your brother. You're just a massive, walking, talking tin can!" He grabbed his second blade and slammed the two swords together at the pommel, making a V shape, the swords vanished and a gigantic great bow appeared. A third sword was summoned, floating beside Aeron, and it turned into a quiver of arrows.

"Damn Heartless!" Claudio roared as the other five were helpless to assist Al and Ed in their trouble. Kairi saw this a quickly cast a Firaga spell, creating a barrel of rolling fire to demolish a path in the Heartless. Sora and Riku quickly darted through the gap created by the conflagration and stood between Aeron and Al.

"Boys…" Aeron said in a despaired voice. "Learn to stay out of the Immortal's business!" He gathered three steel arrows and knocked each one into his massive steel bow and fired them with intense speed and accuracy. "Didn't you learn anything from Kaiser?" He shot an arrow at Sora who barely blocked it with Ultima Weapon and nearly lost his grip. "From Ramziel?" He shot two arrows; Riku avoided one, but was grazed by another. "From Creed?" The arrow Riku avoided arced back and hit him in between the shoulder blades, he cried in pain as he fell down. Sora charged the Immortal who blocked a sword swipe with his bow and then kicked him into a lamppost.

Aeron charged forth and tackled Al to the ground. Placing his foot on the fallen armoured brother, Aeron laughed haughtily. "Why do you protect this thing?" Aeron asked Sora, curing his friend's wound. "Why would you? You just met him and you're ready to throw your life away for it?"

"I know you wouldn't understand, Immortal," Sora snarled back, "but Al is a good person with a good heart I protect people like him and his brother." This just made Aeron laugh even more.

"A person? This heap of scrap?" Effortlessly, Aeron hoisted the seven-footer off the ground with one hand. "You don't know do you? You didn't tell them all the details about you two, did you?" He sneered at Al who was rather horror-struck. "Sora let me show you, what this 'person' really is!"

Aeron removed Al's helmet from the armour to reveal…nothing. There was nothing under the armour but empty space and a tiny marking on the area where Al's helmet connects to the armour. Ed's anger flared once more as he got up and transmuted himself a sword.

"What is this?" Sora looked on in disbelief at the empty armoured shell that was Alphonse Elric. "Al, where's your body?"

Much to Sora and Riku's shock, the helmet began to speak despite being detached from the body. "This is my body Sora. This is the price you pay for dabbling in grounds humans weren't meant to tread. Because of it I have no body, and my brother lost his left leg. To save me, Edward used his right arm as material to attach my soul to this armour." Sora looked over to Ed to see that he had his left leg and right arm. If so, then how come Al said he lost them?

Ed charged forth and attacked Aeron with wild, furious swings but Aeron dodged them, still holding Al's head in one hand, the body lying on the ground in a heap. Aeron sneered at the enraged alchemist.

"So Edward, tell me, I must know." He prattled on, easily dodging the angered attacks. "What did you two do to cost you so much?" Ed was silent as the he held blade sparked on Aeron's right greave. "You know there are parts of alchemy humans shouldn't tread on. So, where did you tread." A wicked smile flashed on the Immortal's face. "Oh, now I remember, you tried to bring your mommy back to life. You thought you knew everything didn't you…you had all the right components for a body, but you lacked a soul so the Gate decided to take Al away from you. Tell me, how did mommy dearest turn out?" Ed's anger flashed even more, a dark look sprouted in his eyes and he wildly continued his assault on Aeron. "Was it worth walking on forbidden territory? Was it? Tell me!"

"Shut up!" Ed roared at the Immortal. "It was a mistake but that gives you know right to mock me about it. I didn't understand and it cost my brother and I dearly. I would never have treaded on that land if I knew this was the cost but now I'll fight as hard as I can to get back what we lost!" Ed brought his sword down in a two-handed blow but Aeron blocked it with his gauntlet, the blade snapping in two. He punched Ed away, into a wall and cackled again.

"You humans think you know everything." He placed Al's head on the body and lifted the empty shell with only one hand. "You think if you can lose something you can find it again. Well let me tell you this Elric." He eyed Ed for a moment with a menacing glance. "What the Gate takes, it will never give back." He tossed Al away like he was rag-doll. "Right now, you two are just mistakes of the world." He took his bow back out again and knocked three arrows. "And so I'll have to rectify the mistakes for the world." He grinned devilishly as he pulled the steel arrows back farther onto the taut bowstring.

"No!" Ed and Sora cried at the same time, trying to move but their bodies just wouldn't for some reason. Aeron fired his arrows and they drilled right through the metallic mass that was Al's body. One pierced his torso, creating a massive hole in it; the second went through his hip and severed off his right leg from his body. The third would have hit him in the neck where the seal was but, because Al fell when he lost his leg, it took him in the shoulder and cleaved off his left arm.

Al lay on the street, prone and vulnerable, and Aeron was stalking him like he was prey. With an arrow in one hand, he drove it through Al's remaining leg and then stood on his remaining arm, crushing it at the elbow. He knocked one more arrow and aimed it at Al's head.

"Leave my brother alone!" Ed bowled into the Immortal as they went rolling around the cobblestones, Aeron losing his bow and arrow. Ed got up quickly and charged again with a flying kick but Aeron snatched the leg out of the air, the _left_ leg. He lifted Ed high into the air and then tossed him to the ground, still keeping a grip on the leg.

"So sorry Edward," Aeron smiled fiendishly at the alchemist, the others still dealing with the Heartless and Nobodies, unable to help. "I was going to not rectify your mistakes, but you have a nasty habit of ruining plans involving you." With a single gauntleted punch, Ed's leg snapped off with a sickening sound. Aeron smiled at his work as he held up the severed leg for all to see. Instead of blood and muscle dripping and hanging from the leg, there was electrical wiring. Aeron removed the pant leg and boot from the leg to reveal it was completely mechanical. His leg was nothing more than an advanced prosthetic limb made of steel and mechanical bits. The Keybladers looked at this seen with wide eyes.

"His leg…" Kairi gasped at the grizzly site, blood leaking from the hole where Ed's leg was once attached. "It's a…a machine!"

"No…way…" Riku muttered, shocked as everyone else by the sight. Ed howled in pain from having his leg removed and Aeron flashed his evil smile again.

"Now…" He gripped Ed's right arm. "The other mistake to rectify." He pulled on the arm and, like the leg; the arm was ripped off the socket to reveal it was another mechanical prosthetic limb. Aeron tossed the arm aside and laughed again as Ed continued to cry out in pain.

"I suppose you all see now." Aeron called to the Keybladers. "You see what these two fools have done. They trespassed on holy ground. Trying to bring someone back to life, or Human Transmutation, is one of the largest taboos on this world and they did it. Unsuccessfully I might add…and they paid a pretty hefty toll. Pitiful humans." He kicked the squirming body of Ed who then went sliding into the crippled shell of Al. "When will you learn that death is natural and can't be circumvented or reversed by any means?"

"Shut up!" Riku snapped to the Immortal, jumping over the Heartless and engaging him in combat. Aeron turned his bow back into two swords and met Riku stroke for stroke. Rain and Claudio rushed forward to assist him while Kairi and Sora strafed around to Al and Ed.

"Are you two okay?" Kairi asked the brothers Elric. Ed smiled weakly through the pain.

"Oh yeah," he replied dryly, "just peachy lady…" He groaned weakly as the pain shot through his body again.

"Just hold still." Sora told him and motioned to Kairi. "Kairi, I'll need you to help heal Edward, his wounds are really bad." Kairi did as she was bid and came closer to the downed alchemist

"How did this happen to you?" She asked. "The metal limbs and the armour…?" Ed shook his head.

"We don't have time for stories lady." She smiled faintly at him.

"It's Kairi, Ed. Okay, ready Sora?" He nodded and they both said "Heal" as green energy moved over Ed's wounds, healing them with the soft green tendrils and closing up the holes. Ed and Al looked at them in shock and amazement.

"What was that?" Al asked. "Was that a kind of alchemy?"

"No, it's magic." Sora replied, leaving the two brothers in shock.

Aeron had managed to keep Rain, Riku and Claudio at bay with his blades. He summoned more Heartless, Nobodies and Fell Souls behind him and reared for another charge against the overwhelmed warriors. As soon as the grunts began to move, gunfire and explosions began to litter the group of enemies, decimating them in quick succession. Aeron and the Keybladers looked around for the source of the attack and saw it off in the distance.

A series of cars and jeeps were driving down the street, each one carrying several soldiers in military uniforms and wielding rifles and pistols. At the front of the column was a military jeep carrying four people. In the driver seat was Jean Havoc, next to him was Hughes and standing in the back of the jeep was a woman with blonde hair pinned up in a conservative style in a military uniform with badges denoting her a First Lieutenant, she carried a pistol and was responsible for eliminating most of the Heartless with accurate shots. Next to her was a man with short black hair, a uniform denoting him a Colonel and white gloves with the alchemical array on them. When he snapped his fingers, explosions littered the air, eliminating several waves of enemies.

"Who called in the cavalry?" Aeron said, unimpressed at the military entourage. Ed scowled at the sight of them, propping himself on Kairi's shoulders.

"Mustang! Hawkeye!" He called to the man and the woman. "I didn't recall asking for your help!" The man ignored him coolly.

"It seems you do need our help Elric," the man, Mustang, replied, "good thing that Havoc informed me that the Keyblade Master would be here…and Hughes ran to tell me about the Nobodies." Sora startled at him.

"How do you know about the Keyblade?" He asked.

"A little metal birdy told me." Mustang said. Sora heard Claudio mutter 'Terra' in a voice of slight anger. "Now, as for business. Armstrong!" A large man in a military uniform with sparse amount of blonde hair with a blonde moustache stepped forward. "There is a train leaving for Resembool in the hour. Take the Keybladers and The Elrics to it and escort them home so they can get some repairs done. Now!"

The large man saluted. "I will do as commanded Colonel." Armstrong hoisted Ed off of Kairi's shoulders and on to his and then began to sprint away. Claudio picked up and cradled Al's shell and began to follow the alchemist. Sora, Riku, Kairi and Rain also gave chase.

"Hey," Riku asked, to no one in particular. "Who were those guys?" It was Armstrong who answered.

"Colonel Roy Mustang, First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye and myself," Armstrong said in a dramatic voice. He then struck a dynamic pose and pink sparkles began to flash around him. "The Strong Arm Alchemist, Major Alexander Louis Armstrong! At your service young Keyblade Master." Ed, who was still on Armstrong's shoulders, was throwing a fit.

"Hey, Armstrong! Stop acting like a nut case and get moving." Ed raged at the alchemist. "In case you've failed to notice, there's a maniac trying to kill me not fifty feet away from here."

"HIT THE DECK!!" Al and Claudio called out. Everyone dove to the road as five steel arrows zoomed above them. Sora turned to see Aeron, easily evading the State Military and jumping into the air, firing arrows from his massive bow.

"Master Edward is right!" Armstrong boldly declared. He put Ed back onto his shoulder, sitting him on his shoulder. He then snatched Claudio, still holding Al, up onto his other shoulder. "Behold as you witness this running technique that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!" Ed and Claudio were stunned by the speed of this move and began to protest loudly.

"Hey! HEY!" Claudio yelled at the large man, sparkles flashing around his head. "LET US DOWN YOU LOON!!"

"DO AS HE SAYS ARMSTRONG!!" Ed roared in agreement with Claudio. "IF YOU DON'T LET US DOWN I SWEAR I'LL-"

"-PULL OUT YOUR ESOPHAGUS, TIE IT INTO A TRANSMUTATION CIRCLE-"

"-KICK YOUR ASS FROM LIOR TO RESEMBOOL AND BACK AGAIN-"

"-AND WHEN YOU DIE, I'LL SNATCH YOU FROM HELL AND KILL YOU AGAIN!!" Both the alchemist and the warrior yelled out the next statement in massive fury.

"SO LET US DOWN THIS INSTANT YOU MR. CLEAN RIP-OFF!!"

Rain, Riku, Sora and Kairi watched as Claudio, Ed, Al and Armstrong marched off while screaming all the way. The four sighed and hung their heads in embarrassment before dashing to match Armstrong's speed; Sora, Kairi and Riku using Quick Run while Rain teleported to them and used her speed to keep up.

**KHKHKH**

The group of eight all managed to reach the train in time and board, avoiding any further confrontation with Aeron or his underlings. Colonel Mustang had apparently reserved an entire car all to them so as to avoid any strange looks consider Al had lost an arm, both legs (the other one fell off while Armstrong carried Claudio) and the majority of the right side of his torso and Ed had lost both his prosthetic limbs. Apparently they were called Automail, an advanced false limb that connected to the nerves to allow movement and their destination was Ed and Al's hometown and where Ed first got his Automail.

Al sighed contently, resting on his seat with his shattered body cavity. "I love travelling by train, don't you guys?"

Claudio nodded from across the armoured brother. "Yep. No better way to travel. You just sit back and watch the scenery move before your eyes." The scenery right now was a beautiful, lush countryside as the sun set over the horizon. Ed sighed.

"I can't stand them." He moaned, trying to keep his balance with only two limbs. "I always fall asleep and miss all the cool scenery." Riku nodded to himself silently.

"So, how much longer until Resembool Edward?" He asked, they had already been on the train for near six hours and there was no indication that they were close to coming to their destination.

"We should be there early tomorrow morning." Ed replied and the five not native to Amestris slumped forward. "This is actually a good thing because I want to here your guy's story." Everyone looked to Sora.

"Um…okay," the now expert storyteller replied, "but do you mind if you explain to us why you and Al are like this way first?" Ed and Al looked to each other and nodded.

"Sure thing." Ed began looking to the five who hadn't heard the story. "When Al and I were young, are mother died. It was really hard on us because we had no father so we were pretty much by ourselves. It was at this point we decided to learn alchemy for the first time. When we finished our training with are teacher we came back home to do what we promised we would do."

"Revive are mother." Al said for his brother. "We had all the components that make up a human body but so did other people who tried human transmutation but it always failed for them. So we decided we would each add a drop of our blood onto the pile of components. The blood of her only sons, it seems like a fair trade, right?" Ed shook his head.

"We both thought we had lost everything we could have lost. We were wrong." Ed breathed in and out and paused for a second. "When we first started the process, everything seemed to go right but it then went downhill. Something happened and the circle took my left leg and it grabbed Al, trying to drag him away like they did to my leg. I quickly scrawled a transmutation circle on a suit of armour in the corner of the room and used my arm as a component to seal Al's soul into the armour. It was then that I got my Automail and we met Mustang for the first time." He paused again. "And at that moment are goal was decided. We were to go after…the Philosopher Stone."

Everyone, who had been listening very intently, eyed Ed oddly at the mention of said Stone. "Philosopher Stone?" Sora questioned. He looked to the others who had no idea as to what Edward was speaking of.

"The Philosopher Stone is a powerful alchemical artefact that can be used to circumvent and ignore any law of alchemy." Ed explained to the Keybladers. "We want it so we can gain what we lost. I want Al's body back."

"And I want to give you your arms and legs back brother." Al responded but Ed shook his head.

"No Al," Edward responded to his younger brother. "I told you that I can live with fake limbs but you…you can't feel or touch or eat or grow…you need a body Al…I'll do anything to get that back."

Armstrong, who at this point was tearing up, rose from his seat and took off his military jacket and flexed in a dynamic pose, his bulging muscles showing, tears falling from his eyes and sparkles flashing around his head. "Oh, such a story of fraternal bonds. I cannot begin to express my love for these two boys." Ed waved it off.

"Calm down Armstrong, you big lug." Ed scoffed to the alchemist. "You've heard this story too many times to get teary eyed over it. So, Sora," Ed looked to the brunette, "you got a story to tell?"

Sora nodded and told his story, a much longer story than Ed's. He began from the beginning right up to the here and now. He explained first gaining the Keyblade, waking in Traverse Town, fighting the Heartless, the confrontation at Hollow Bastion, the battle against Xehanort's Heartless, waking in Twilight Town, the battles against the Organization, reuniting with Riku, Kairi, Roxas and Namine, and the recent encounters with Claudio, Rain and the Immortals. Al listened on intently; Ed had eyes that shifted between interested and bored while Armstrong once again got all teary eyed at the story.

"Oh, a story of such fabulous results!" He declared, taking of his shirt and striking a pose again. "Friendship, love, grand heroes and treacherous villains, Master Sora I must say you know how to tell a tearjerker!"

"No, you're just an overly sensitive and sympathetic man." Ed shot the Major down.

"And do you have to take your shirt off every two and a half minutes?" Claudio asked lazily, more concerned in watching the scenery outside and the night sky over Amestris.

"Yes, he does." Edward said, replying sardonically before turning his attention to Sora. "So, is that all you have. No more tales of fantasy and high-adventure? How about the time you rescued a princess from a fire breathing dragon or how you fought off pirates cursed by ancient treasure?" Sora looked at him sharply.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Sora accused the alchemist.

"No, I'm calling you a great story-teller." Ed replied. "You can't expect people to believe that story can you? Heartless, Nobodies, other worlds? Who would believe that junk?"

"Everyone else we have met on our journeys." Riku replied coldly. "Besides didn't you see proof back in East City? Aeron and his cronies."

Ed blew a raspberry. "He's probably just a crazed alchemist messing with things he shouldn't. Or maybe you're just all a bunch of conmen working in cahoots."

"But, you heard your Colonel, he called us Keyblade Masters." Kairi brought up by Ed blew it off again.

"Like I'm going to believe anything that pompous ass of a Colonel says."

"What will you believe?" Rain demanded from the blonde boy.

"Anything that can be explained through logic and science." Claudio's anger flashed across his face.

"So, you're one of those types." He scowled at the alchemist, anger burning lines on his face. "Haven't you ever taken a leap of fate Elric, listen to your heart and just follow it?"

"No, I haven't." Ed replied sharply. "When people do that they defy all things logical and go after crazy things, being rash and idiotic to chase dreams that never existed! Everything has a purpose and logic dictates everything. Without science and logic, we're lost."

"True! But sometimes, even the most logical of people just need to close there eyes and just jump into something they don't understand. There are things in life Elric that we aren't meant to understand. Stuff we can't see or feel or analyze so we just need to listen to our hearts and believe in what we believe in!"

"The world runs by rules! Rules I believe in, like Equivalent Exchange! You can't get anything without giving something up in exchange. If we close our eyes to these rules then we enter places mortals should not tread and cannot comprehend!"

The verbal sparing stopped between Edward, the man of science, and Claudio, the man of faith. Claudio looked at what Ed was talking about, Ed's missing limbs and Al's false body.

Ed then spoke up again, quieter this time. "If we step outside the rules then we will end up taking the consequences to the grave."

Claudio stood up and picked up his blade. "All you alchemists are all alike. Can't see beyond your rulings." He walked away from his seat. "Open your eyes Ed and see the world that lies beyond alchemy and Equivalent Exchange, it's waiting for you. I'm going for a walk." He left the train car in a sullen silence.

Everyone stared in silence at what just happened before Rain explained. "I'm sorry Edward for how my husband acted." She said quietly to the alchemist. He shrugged.

"It's okay Rain," he responded. "We deal with people like him all the time. People of faith, not of science."

Rain shook her head. "No, Claudio isn't a man of faith in anything higher than himself. He is a man who follows his heart, no matter what the situation." She looked out the window into the night sky, every star a world of its own. "He's…well we have experienced a hard life and Claudio has been treated particularly badly, especially by himself. His heart is his anchor to the human world, all the times he has been called a monster. He believes if he doesn't follow it then he's not human."

"What do you mean by 'monster' and 'human world'?" Kairi asked her former bodyguard.

"It's a long story, and we've had enough of them tonight." She sighed and looked at the Elrics. "At the same time he stepped over his bounds when he insulted your philosophy, your reason, your way of life. I hope you can forgive him."

Ed shrugged. "I am kind of at fault here too, insulting your guys' quest and all." He sighed. "He was right Al, I got to let go of reality sometime and just believe."

"No brother, you continue your path." Al replied to his brother. "You be the mind for us and I'll be the heart for us. I believe them and I think they can help us when we get repaired." Ed smiled cheekily at his brother. Everyone then heard footsteps as Claudio re-entered the car.

"Wow, Ed, you just made me look like a real asshole." Claudio said weakly. He took his seat next to Rain and put his arm around her. "And you. You." He leaned over and kissed her like he did at Beast's Castle, her moaning softly at the expression of romance. "You…are you. My better half." Armstrong was once again, crying. "Oh, don't you start Mr. Clean!"

"Well, that was a nice little moment of resolution," Riku drawled to himself, "but may I suggest we get to bed and be ready for tomorrow?"

Everyone took Riku's suggestion and made there own beds in the train seats using whatever they could to sleep on and slowly, each one drifted off to sleep.

**KHKHKH**

When the morning rolled around, the warriors found they were only a few hours away from there stop. When they made it to the stop, they hitched a ride into town and soon stood on the limits of a small town situated in a lush, green valley. The same town that Ed and Al hadn't been to since after their horrific experience with human alchemy, they had arrived home, they arrived at Resembool.

"Brother…" Al said quietly, still cradled in Claudio's arms.

"I know Al." Ed replied, an arm slung over Sora to give him balance. "It's home."

**To Be Continued**

_Ladies and Gentlemen: a world base off one of my favourite anime and manga series. You know what's great; Square-Enix publishes the Fullmetal Alchemist so there is actually a possibility that it could appear in Kingdom Hearts in the future! This is the first of two anime worlds to appear in GOD. A cookie to whoever guesses the second one._

_Also, the next chapter will feature the first new Keyblade Master and another surprise that is a staple to Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy alike._

Journal Set #4:

Edward Elric

A fifteen-year-old State Alchemist with a short disposition and an even shorter temper. Ed is a strong believer in alchemy and science after an experience earlier in his youth where he lost his arm and leg. Edward first appeared in the Fullmetal Alchemist manga (2001) and later an anime and video game series.

Alphonse Elric

The fourteen-year-old brother of Edward, Al is stunted emotionally with his inability to grow. When Ed lost his arm and leg, Al lost his body and has his soul sealed to a suit of armour. He first served as Ed's calmer voice of reason in the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, 2001

Alexander Louis Armstrong

A Major in the State Military of Amestris, Armstrong is physically strong and impressive but proves to be overly sentimental when it comes to stories of heroism and friendship. This is the reason why he still holds the rank of major. Armstrong is also prone to fits of removing his shirt and posing. Armstrong first appeared in the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, 2001.

Obai-Ko

Melee style Fell Souls, they are created from the souls of fallen warriors. They wear thick armour and are armed with glaives used to sweep and skewer enemies. They tend to rush foes and stays in close to make magic less effective a difficult to use.

Harpy

Aerial style Fell Souls created from the souls of female warriors and avian creatures. They wield broadswords with amazing skill and are extremely fast. Harpy's prefer to fight in flocks, attacking enemies with precise formation attacks.

Enigma

Ranged style Fell Souls created from the souls of archers and abominations. Enigmas possess hard skin and are quick and lithe, able to dodge ranged attacks and move away from melee attacks while attacking with their three bows. The only weak spot on the Enigma is the eye, specifically the pupil.

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	15. Fullmetal Keyblader

_The last two chapters are pretty much cameo chapters. We've had a Havoc, Mustang, Hughes Hawkeye, and Armstrong cameo and now prepare for a Winry, Pinako and Den cameo. Also, I've hit a little writer's block although its probably just do to a crammed schedule and the fact the chapter is a carbon copy of the movie. Anyways, the chapter is once again a dead giveaway but enjoy!_

Chapter 15: Fullmetal Keyblader

"Edward, Edward, Edward," the tiny, old woman chided the young alchemist, "how many times must I tell you to take better care of your Automail?"

Ed sighed. His homecoming wasn't as he expected, upon entering the village he was greeted by old Pinako Rockbell, an old family friend and grandmother to his good friend, Winry Rockbell. Winry was absent at the moment, out to market to get food for her family. Ed was hoping she would be here so he could get his limbs fixed ASAP but that really wasn't the case.

"Listen, could you just leave me alone until Winry comes back?" Ed asked impatiently, he was getting tired of have to use Sora to balance on and was tired of seeing Al slung on Claudio's back. "Just do me that favour and leave us alone, okay Granny." Pinako turned around and smirked.

"I don't think I'd be a good mechanic if I did that shorty." She mumbled but Ed heard it and chose to flip out.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TINY BEANSPROUT?" He ranted, leaping on his one leg and clawing into Sora with his one arm. "I'M TALLER THAN YOU OLD LADY!!" Pinako scoffed again.

"Yes, but I am an old lady and you are a growing boy." Ed flipped out again, charging forward, forgetting his missing limbs. He fell face first onto the hardwood floor of the Rockbell home.

"Damn it…" he moaned before sitting up. "I really hate you, you shrivelled up old hag!"

"Now Master Edward," Armstrong stepped in and lifted Ed up onto a chair. "I must remind you to respect your elders. Especially one so wizened and skilled in the mechanical arts." Pinako was taken a little aback as, once again, Armstrong went into a pose down.

"Well," she blinked in shock, "I must say that I approve of your friend Edward. I wish all these others were as courteous as him." She turned to Sora and company. "Who are you anyways?"

"I'm Sora," Sora introduced himself. Kairi was next.

"My name is Kairi." She said while scratching a black dog that had one leg replaced by an Automail leg.

"Riku." The white-haired boy said quickly.

"I'm Rain." Rain replied to the elder woman.

"And I am Claudio." He was setting Al down on a chair next to Ed. "And will you stop posing like a lunatic, Armstrong?" The muscled alchemist stopped posing but the sparkles still surrounded his head.

"Well, okay, but it is now time for me to take my leave." Armstrong said before bowing curtly to the assembled group. "Colonel Mustang gave me direct orders to escort Masters Edward and Alphonse, along with the Keybladers, to Resembool and then take my leave back to East City." He turned and then bowed again. "Here's that we meet again Master Edward."

"Yeah, here's to you too Armstrong." Edward returned to the Strong Arm Alchemist, trying to wave with his phantom arm but quickly shifted to his left.

"Thanks for your help Major Armstrong." Sora said to the State Alchemist. "I don't think we would have made it out of their if you and that Mustang guy hadn't have shown up." Armstrong bowed again.

"And a farewell to you Master Sora, good luck on your journey." Armstrong then took his leave for good.

Claudio sat down next to Al and pulled Rain into his lap, holding his wife near him. "So, what do we do now?" He asked to no one in particular.

"Well, I know I'm waiting for Winry to return so she can fix my limbs and then I'll fix Al's body." Ed explained and then turned his gaze to the Keybladers. "I don't know what you guys are here for." Sora decided to speak up at last.

"Well, one night back on the Islands, I had a dream the night Kairi was attacked by Kira." Kairi looked to Claudio uneasily but he simply cricked his neck. Sora continued, the silent exchange going unnoticed. "In the dream, I saw several pictures of people's faces. I saw the King, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Namine, and many others. Claudio was there and so was Edward. It was also that dream that warned me Kairi was in trouble."

"Sora, why didn't you tell us about this?" Kairi asked.

"I didn't know what it meant, but now I think it is showing me important people I will meet on my journey." Sora explained.

"So, that is why you are following us, Sora?" Al asked the Keyblade Master.

"That and the fact that I am looking for either this world's Keyhole, a Keyblade Master or both." Ed huffed to Sora.

"Okay, tag along until I get my Automail repaired and then you guys take a hike and do your legendary destiny thing." Ed said haughtily. "Al and I have work to do on the Stone."

"You still don't believe us that much, do you?" Riku asked smugly to the alchemist.

"No, I believe you." Ed answered back, a bored tone dancing on his voice. "I've seen the Keyblade and the Heartless and all that jazz but I still think part of it is overly fantastical." Riku and Claudio leered at the alchemist. Pinako coughed loudly in her fist.

"Whatever the story maybe, it may take a while for you Automail to be repaired." Ed almost fell over in response. "Winry foresaw an occasion like this, knowing your reckless streak and so she designed several replacement arms and legs for you. But it seems you've grown about an inch since you were last here so she needs to modify the limbs before she reattaches them."

Ed groaned loudly. "And so all that ranting about me being short finally comes back to haunt me…" Everyone propped their heads up when they heard the sound of a door opening.

A female voice called out. "Grandma! I'm home!" Entering the room where the Elrics and Keybladers were was a teenage girl with long blonde hair, blue eyes and wearing a white top, black skirt and black jacket entered the room. She saw the two boys sitting on the chairs and squealed in delight. "Edward! Alphonse!" She then saw the damage to Ed's limbs and Al's armoured shell. "What happened?" And she then noticed Sora, Kairi, Riku, Claudio and Rain. "And who are they?"

"Winry, meet Sora, Kairi, Riku, Claudio and Rain." The brunette, two redheads, and off-silvered haired people greeted her kindly. "Guys, meet Winry Rockbell, best mechanic this side of Central." Winry placed her hands on her hip.

"Oh, stop buttering me up Edward." She eyed the alchemist brothers shrewdly. "I can see that you two need repairs. So what did you two do this time. Run afoul of some high and might State Alchemist? Were you hunting down another serial killer? Or maybe you just did something stupid and fell off a cliff."

"Actually miss," Claudio said from his place next to Al, his eyes closed as if in concentration, "these two took severe damage from fighting a supposedly Immortal being that wields two swords and can combine them into different weapons." The blonde girl and her grandmother blinked blankly at the warrior.

Ed sighed at Claudio's explanation. "It's a long story Winry. Could you just fix me up quickly so I can fix Al and we can be on our way?"

"Okay, fine, but I'll need a little help." She looked at the five strangers. "Any of you have mechanical experience." Only Claudio raised his hand. "Okay so you'll come along and you." She pointed to Kairi.

"Me?" The Princess asked in disbelief. Before she could say another word, she snatched up the other girl and dragged her from the room. She then turned to Claudio.

"Could you bring Ed and follow me?" Claudio nodded and snatched up the much shorter Ed and then hoisted him into his arms.

"See you guys in a little while. And watch Al for me will you?" Ed asked them and Sora nodded as Claudio carried Ed, following Winry and Kairi.

**KHKHKH**

Ed was lying on a table in a makeshift operating room while Claudio and Winry tinkered with a spare Automail arm and leg, trying to increase its length to the right proportion of Ed's body while Kairi acted as a sort of mechanical nurse, fetching tools for them when needed. Both Claudio and Kairi had discarded there clothing for more mechanical friendly outfits: old t-shirts and overalls. Kairi had taken quickly to Winry while Claudio worked in silence, doing as Winry told him. Winry was a bit of an oddity to Kairi, most girls she knew from home had no interest in metalworking or mechanics but Winry was by far the most adept person Kairi had ever seen when it came to mechanical workings. She also freely told Winry any questions she had on the journey, including revealing to her that she was a Princess.

"A Princess!" Winry exclaimed as they were working on extending the arm's metal shell. Claudio was extending the wiring for the leg to match the extended shell. "I have to admit that this is the best story I have ever heard of. You should turn it into a novel." Kairi laughed a little bit.

"I don't think people would believe us, considering this would technically be a biography on my life. Most people would think of it as a piece of fiction." She looked over to the boy on the surgery table. "Ed's seen the Heartless and Keyblades and he doesn't believe us."

"I can hear you!" Ed declared, his eyes were indeed shut but he wasn't anaesthetized.

"Well despite what Ed says, I think you guys are quite amazing." Winry said, sticking her tongue out at Edward. "Besides, there are only like a dozen of people as a half as cynical as Ed." She then began to thread length or wiring into the arm. "Kairi hand me that tool over there." Kairi gave Winry a tool designed to strip or insulate wiring. "Claudio how is the wiring on the leg coming?"

"One more wire Miss Rockbell." The former royal bodyguard replied, honorific as always.

Winry began to fit more wiring into the arm. "So, you and that Sora kid seem to have something going on, right?" The mechanic asked shrewdly.

"What?" Kairi asked in surprise and embarrassment. "No, it's nothing like that. I mean, I like him, I don't know if he likes me, I think he might…but it's really nothing…"

"Please, Kairi," Ed said, eyes still closed. "I think even Al can see that you two have something going on."

"He's right." Claudio said. "I know, Rain knows, Riku knows, even Ed and Winry know and we've only been on this world a day."

Kairi huffed. "Is everyone in the universe in on this?"

"Actually no." Claudio replied. "Sora is still a total dope on all of this. He has no idea you like him." She looked at him questionably and he replied simply, "Roxas."

"Okay." Winry said, wiping sweat off her brow as she finished the arm. "Ready to have these attached Ed?"

The alchemist grunted. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Winry turned to the two otherworldly warriors. "Go fetch my grandma, this is the hard part of the procedure, attaching each individual wire to the nerves in the sockets. You can leave if you want."

Kairi nodded but Claudio didn't budge. "No, I'll stay. I'm a bit of a of a medical buff and I've always been interested by Automail." He turned to his Princess. "Go, find Sora and Riku." She nodded and walked off as Winry started to put on surgical gear and handed some to Claudio.

"So, you ready to get new limbs Ed?" Claudio asked cockily.

"I've done this before, it's nothing." Ed responded. "By the way. Say that hypothetically Aeron wasn't an alchemist and your theory on 'Immortals' is right." Claudio cocked an eyebrow at Ed's small admission of faith. "Say that, hypothetically, all that is true. What would Aeron want with me?"

Claudio looked around, seeing Winry preparing a tray of surgical tools. He snuck up to Ed and whispered two words into his ear.

**KHKHKH**

Rain was sitting out in front of the Rockbell house next to Al, a pile of sheet and scrap metal in front of her. Riku and Sora had left to see if they could find the Keyhole while Kairi and Claudio were still working on prepping Ed's new limbs. She sighed softly to herself.

"What's wrong Rain?" The younger Elric brother asked her.

"Nothing Al, just…you have a very beautiful hometown, many people would love to live in a place like this." She shifted her position on the ground to relieve any pressure in her legs. "So tell me Al, why do you need all this scrap metal for?"

"It's for Ed to fix my body, he uses alchemy."

She stifled a small chuckle. "So he has to get fixed first otherwise you have no source of alchemy to fix your body." She shifted her position again, kneeling now. "You think the philosopher stone will help you guys?"

"It has been a long and hard road so far," Al responded, "but we found new notes from a guy called Tim Marcoh and with them we are so close."

"I hope you can achieve your goal. Must be hard being something like what you are." Her mind then fell into a little depression, thinking for a second. _At least you can change what you are. Unlike us._ She then heard Kairi's voice.

"Hey Rain, Al." The cheerful young Princess called to them. Sitting next to them she looked around and asked. "Where did Sora and Riku go?

"They went to find the Keyhole, thinking it might be around here." Rain explained. Another voice then cut through the air.

"And guess what, we did!" Riku declared as he and Sora returned to the group.

"Really?" Kairi asked, a little dubious of Riku's claim. "Where was it? Did a Blank Keychain fire off somewhere?"

"No, we found the Keyhole around the wreckage of a burned out house just over there." Sora pointed to a house opposite the Rockbell residence.

"That was our old house." Al said, a little sullenly. "We burned it the day we left here." He lowered his helmet-head in despair.

"Um…sorry Al, we didn't mean to bring up bad memories." Sora apologized to the suit of armour.

"Don't worry about it Sora, that was a long time ago. At least we know that it served a purpose and now the Heartless can't destroy our world, right?" Sora nodded.

"Yeah, that's what it means to seal a Keyhole." Everyone turned their heads as they heard the sound of footsteps and a door opening. Claudio, Winry and Ed were walking out of the house, all under there own power.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Winry began, motioning to Ed, "may I present to you the newly outfitted Edward Elric!" Ed stood, oblivious of his introduction, working and stretching his new limbs. He was spinning his mechanical wrist before looking up.

"Oh, did you say something Winry?" Winry sighed at the oblivious alchemist who ignored her exasperation and walked to Al and the scrap metal. "Alright Al, you ready to get a body back?" He asked rhetorically with a cheeky grin. Ed clapped his hands together and then placed them on Al's armour, a blue light engulfing the shell and metal. The metal was broken down and reconfigured into Al's body. When the light faded, all of Al's cracks, holes and tears were repaired from the display of alchemy. Sora and Kairi stared at the ability with wide eyes.

"Wow Ed," Sora was pretty much amazed, he had seen a lot of things in life but this was pretty impressive even by his standards. "That was alchemy?" Ed nodded. "That was really cool." Claudio then walked up to his party and turned to Sora.

"By the way Sora, the Journal mentions something about Summon Charms. What are they like?" The older warrior asked and Sora began to gesticulate wildly.

"There little silver ovals with some kind of image inside them."

"Oh," Claudio dug into his pockets. "Kind of like this?" He handed Sora a silver oval with the image of a snake placed over the silhouette of a man.

"Where did you get this?" Sora said as Kairi admired the image of the charm, never really seeing one before.

"It was in Winry's workshop." Claudio turned to the blonde girl, lecturing Ed about the proper care for his Automail. "She said she found it one day while shopping, people around her said it just fell out of the sky." Ed was blowing off the lecture as Claudio glanced back.

"Okay Winry I get it. No fighting Immortals." Ed then smacked Al on the back and began to walk a bit. "Okay Al, we got some training to do."

"Training?" Riku asked but the alchemist brothers were silent. The five followed Al and Ed to a calm and serene stream next to the lush, rolling greenery. An old junker of a car was discarded next to it as Ed and Al stretched out their joints on their artificial limbs. "So what is this about training?" Riku asked again but the brothers were silent again, focused on stretching. Ed looked up to see Riku, Sora, Kairi, Rain and Claudio.

"Oh, you guys followed?" Ed said obliviously, the five warriors slumping forward at the density of the small boy. "Anyway, anytime we get repairs, Al and I always train to test out our new gear. A little friendly, brotherly sparring."

"And I always win!" Al said cheerfully. Ed was shadow boxing when he heard the comment.

"That's because you have a body that feels no pain and the strength of a seven-foot tall man." Ed commented bluntly. "Now come on," he motioned for Al to charge, "I'm ready."

"You in a mood to lose to today brother?" Al asked as he took a fighting stance, bare fists bore against his older brother. The two charged and caught each other with powerful kicks before going into a rhythm of punching and blocking. Ed made a conscious effort to only use his right fist and left leg to defend or attack, using the other would only hurt him. Kairi, Rain and Sora were sitting on the hillside to watch the sparring match, Riku stood and Claudio had taken a seat inside the old junk car.

"So," Sora said, playing with the word as it escaped his mouth. "We've sealed the keyhole but the Blank Keychain still hasn't fired off to the next world. What do we do now?" Claudio, who had taken a reed from the hill and was chewing on it, spoke up.

"Deal with Aeron or," he said slowly and lazily, "find a Keyblader."

"Why do you sound like you're half asleep?" Rain asked her husband who was still chewing on the reed. She looked at it. "Where did you get that reed?" Claudio lazily pointed to the hill and a pile of reeds. "You do know that those have a toxin that affects adrenaline and motor skills?" Claudio opened his eyes lazily and blinked.

"Damn it…" he spat the reed out and turned to Sora. "Cast a thunder spell on me, will you?" A ray of yellow lightning streaked from the sky, shocking Claudio and knocking him off the hood of the junker. "Thanks." He groaned slowly.

"Hey guys!" Ed yelled out. The two brothers had stopped sparing to see that inky black pools were rising from the ground. Heartless were swarming from them and deciding to attack the group. Ed clapped his hands together and a blade rose from the ground in the blue light. He tossed the sword to Al and then clapped his hands together a second time, sliding his left hand over his new Automail hand, turning the back of the hand into a blade. He quickly cut through the Heartless and Al was dealing with them on his own. He didn't have much skill with a sword and soon got his foot stuck on a root and tumbled over. The Heartless swarmed over his body, sniffing as they went. They stuck their heads up as if finding an unpleasant odour before running off to fight one of the other six. Al sat up in confusion.

"What just happened?" He asked. Sora blocked a Heartless attack and saw what Al was talking about.

"It's probably because you are just a soul attached to an armoured shell." Sora tapped the left side of his chest. "You know, no heart." Al lowered his head dejectedly.

"Oh…well, that's good," he mumbled sadly, "I guess."

The remainder of the Heartless were eliminated in short order due to the power of the seven warriors. Claudio scrunched his face up after the Heartless swarm died out. Ed looked around, his anger flashing again. "Okay, who's there? If this is Aeron jerking me around again, just come out now!" The air above the stream began to shimmer as Aeron faded into existence.

"Sure thing Edward…" The Immortal grimaced at the seven warriors below him. "All right, all my ducks lined up in a row. The Keybladers and the Smelric Brothers. Things just couldn't be going better for me!" He snapped his fingers and a small army of Fell Souls and Nobodies appeared and charged the Keybladers. "Leave the Elrics alone, I want that scrawny little runt to myself!" Aeron summoned one of his broadswords and swooped down to face Edward. Their blades clattered together, sparks flying.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me a runt?" Ed raged, pushing the Immortal away and then charging again with his Automail arm-blade. "Why the hell are you targeting me anyways?" Aeron sneered, blowing him away with the flat of his blade.

"Why do you think, you fool?" Aeron snarled, striking at Ed with fast lunges, Ed blocking with his arm, sparks flying at every strike. "We need your heart. Strong hearts like yours are so hard to come by and I just can't pass up the opportunity."

"My heart? What the hell kind of reason is that?"

"Your heart is strong. Not the organ itself but the spiritual heart that houses your power and beliefs." Aeron snatched the blade with his gauntleted hand and tossed Ed away to the dirt. "We need more hearts like yours, to sacrifice for our End." Aeron raised his blade above his head. "Wind Reaver!" He swung his blade and a blast of air swirled around Ed and cut him with the intensity. "Dragon Twister!" Aeron pointed his broadsword at Ed and a wind cyclone shaped like a Chinese dragon flew from the blade. Ed narrowly avoided the wind drill, the dragon carving a scar into the earth.

Aeron dashed to Ed with inhuman speed and smashed him away with the back of his hand. "Why do you put up a fight Elric?" Aeron cackled as he stalked the downed alchemist. "We are Immortal, as our name suggests. You can't win. Either way your world will be doomed. If you just give in, you'll be apart of something much bigger. Apart of history! Instead of this meagre existence you live now." Ed answered the statement with a mule kick using his Automail leg to the head of his foe. He then sprung up and swung with his arm blade, cutting through the strap on his breastplate and into the skin.

"You want to know why I resist?" Ed was in a fury, but not one of his atypical ranting furies, this was a fury of the fire in his heart. He advanced on the Immortal, barraging him with blade strikes. "I made a promise to my brother. A promise that I would get his body back and I take that oath to heart." He pierced the lobster metal of Aeron's kneepad with a violent lunge. "That oath is what makes me go on no matter what happens. Because, when I made that promise to Al, I promised that I would succeed in that promise, even if it killed me! So I won't die until I see Al's soul back in his body!"

Sora, who had been at this point, on the fringes of Aeron and Ed's battle, saw a glowing coming from the bag on his shorts. One of the Blank Keychains rose from the bag with a golden glow. Time seemed to have stopped for everyone but Sora, taking on a sepia tone. The outline of a crown appeared underneath him as the Keychain medallion turned into a glowing orb. Sora spun his Keyblade around and fired an angled shot into the orb, the medallion turning into a small orb and flew into Ed's body.

When the ceremony ended, Sora blinked in shock. _What just happened?_ He asked himself, looking around. Riku and Kairi had similar looks on their faces. _Did they experience it too?_

"Sora!" Riku said, appearing to answer Sora's question. "What was that? Why did time just slow down like that?" Sora shook his head.

"I don't know, but I think that might be the Keyblader Ceremony." Riku contemplated this for a second and looked to Kairi who had the same look of thought etched on her face.

"For Ed's sake," she began in a grim tone. "I hope you're right Sora."

Ed was till charging Aeron with his wild strokes. Aeron leapt back and held his palm out. "Sky Phantom!" The wind whipped around Ed as Aeron forced a load of energy into the wind vortex, turning it into a minefield. Ed stumbled out of the explosions, coughing and flailing wildly. "Oh Edward!" Aeron taunted. Ed looked around rapidly to see Aeron warp behind Al and hit him in the back with the flat of his blade. Al collapsed and Aeron hoisted him up, lifting up his helmet visor. "Gee, I wonder what happens when I peel this little trinket off?" He asked rhetorically. The Immortal aimed the point of his blade at the blood seal inside Al's armour and began to slowly move it up and down, slightly scratching the seal off.

"NO!" Ed cried in horror, dropping to his knees. "Please, I beg of you, don't hurt him!" The alchemist pleaded for his younger brother. If that seal was removed then Al would lose the anchor his soul had on the armour and he would disappear…for good. "Just leave Al alone and I'll give you what you want."

"Brother, please-" Al began to protest his brother's plan but Aeron booted him in the back, forcing him to his knees.

"Shut up you tin can!" Aeron sneered again, looking up at Edward. "Alright Elric, I'll play hardball." He pointed his blade at Ed. "Give me your heart and I'll leave your little baby brother alone." Ed looked at him apprehensively. "Don't worry, I promise you, no harm will come to him." He smiled devilishly at him. "On my honour as an Immortal."

"Fine." Ed agreed dejectedly, he de-transmutated his arm blade into a normal fist. "Just sheath your sword and walk to me, leave Al alone." Aeron made his blade vanish in a flash and walked slowly to Ed. The Keybladers protested in fear, unable to help due to the Fell Souls and Nobodies.

"Ed, don't!" Sora said. "We can beat him, just give it time!"

"Don't trust these guys," Riku cried from experience of villainy. "They have no honour, it's all a trap!"

"We can win, we can save Al!" Kairi cried out as well.

All the protests fell on deaf ears as a beaten Ed let Aeron walk up to him. Aeron grabbed Ed by the collar and stiffened his right hand as dark energy pulsed through it. He lifted Ed high above the ground and grinned at him evilly. "I hope you know that once I kill you, I'm doing the same to your little brother." The Immortal whispered evilly. Ed's eyes flashed with rage. "Surprised? You shouldn't be. Riku was right, we have no honour." He reared his arm back, darkness covering the gauntlet. "So you die and so does Al…but don't worry, you won't see him suffer." He then turned to speak to the others. "Let this be a lesson to all of you. Don't mess with the Immortals!"

"And let this be a lesson to you Aeron!" Ed muttered with rage. "Don't mess with another man's little brother!" He quickly turned his arm back into the blade and stabbed Aeron, punching through the armour of his breastplate. Aeron stumbled away, cursing in pain. He kicked Edward hard in the gut making him fall down. Aeron leapt backwards and summoned two blades, slamming them together at the hilt to create a massive steel boomerang.

"You fool!" Aeron snarled, malice lacing his once calm voice. "Because of that little act, you will have to live through watching your brother die!" He reared back the boomerang. "All because of you!" Aeron flung the steel boomerang at the helpless Al, moving with a malicious whirring.

"AL!!" Ed screamed in desperation as the metal whirring began to bare down on his brother.

Time began to slow down for Ed as he left his body, floating away from his mind and into a black void. He fell down the void and landed on a large blue pedestal, a stain glass mural on the top of it. The mural depicted himself in the center with various pictures around him in smaller circles. There was Al in both his human and armoured forms, his mother, Tricia Elric, smiling as always, with Winry next to her. He saw both Mustang and Hughes there as well at the end. The outer circle of the mural depicted various transmutation arrays.

"What the hell is this?" Ed demanded, his voice echoing wildly around the void. "Why am I not fighting still? Where did Al and Aeron go?"

_Do not worry young Edward._ A voice spoke in his mind, calm and serene but unearthly and ethereal. _Time has stopped in the real world, only passing now here, in your heart. You have been gifted with a great power. A power given to you by your will to protect your brother at all costs, even to yourself._

"So what is this power, lady?" Ed called to the voice in an annoyed tone, with his arms crossed.

_You have been gifted to be one of the wielders of the Keyblade._ The voice responded. A small golden orb of light floated from the top of the void to hover over Edward. _I warn you, if you take this power, you will be thrust into a journey like no other. It will put you at great risk and harm. But, if you should ignore this, then I cannot say what the fate of you and your brother will be._

Ed mulled the words through his mind. He didn't understand as to why he knew this, but he knew that when he entered the 'real world' then he and Al would be in great danger, not just because of the boomerang, but also because of other things. He knew how powerful Sora and the others were due to the Keyblade. He reached out and closed his Automail hand over the orb. Light shone from the mural as the void disappeared and Ed's mind reappeared in his body.

Time was moving slowly for everyone but Ed, his mind racing as he saw the boomerang zip to Al in slow-mo. _I got to do something! If I don't…Al he'll…die!_ He could feel something heavy in his right hand, but his mind didn't register it. Time was slowly speeding up and he needed a solution. _Damn it!_ He closed his eyes in desperation. _I need to something!!_

Time was up to normal speed and the boomerang was careening toward Al. There was a blue light coming from the junk car and a metal pole shot out from the body, intercepting the boomerang and sending it back to Aeron's hand. Ed opened his eyes, aware of the alchemy that just happened and wondering who had done it. He had visualized something like that but he made no circle or didn't clap his hands together, so what happened and who did it?

_You did,_ the voice from the void answered. _It is one of your new powers._ Ed wigged out from the voice and saw what was in his hand. It was a sword, a little over three-feet long and vaguely key-shaped. The main haft was made of a pole that looked like Automail and engraved with transmutation circles. Two of the lion-like beasts from East City descended from the base of the haft to form the guard. Hanging from the pommel was a chain and attached to the chain was a State Alchemist pocket watch. The head of the blade was a disc engraved with a transmutation array with a small red stone set in the center and another stone set at the point where the haft rose from the guard and hilt.

_Will of steel._ The words flitted through his mind from an unknown source, but they felt familiar to Ed. _Fullmetal Fury._ That was its name…the Fullmetal Fury Keyblade.

Everyone was looking at Ed with wide eyes, mostly Aeron and Al, the others being vaguely aware of the ceremony Sora performed.

"Brother…" Al said, still in shock from the events only a few minutes ago. "Where did you get that?"

"I…don't know." Ed replied slowly. He turned to Sora. "Did you give me this?"

"Yeah Ed, I did." Sora replied with a nod as his companions finished the last of there enemies. Aeron saw this and jumped high into the air, wide-eyed of what just happened.

"What just happened?" Aeron asked, floating above the stream. "Elric got a friggin' Keyblade?" Ed grinned evilly, gripping his sword in both hands.

"Yep, and now," he pointed Fullmetal Fury at the Immortal. "You're not facing Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist." He looked to the six companions who had walked up beside him, weapons drawn. "You face all of us…and Edward Elric, Fullmetal Keyblader and Master of Metal!" Claudio grinned and revved his sword, red energy spiralling around it.

"So, Aeron…" he began, High Streak aimed at the Immortal. "Do you think your mission is going over now? Now that you have to fight four Keyblade Masters, a seven-foot tall suit of armour and two of the best swordsmen this side of the Radiant Garden!"

Aeron's rage screwed up his face into a twisted position. "You little punks!" He frothed, dissembling his boomerang into his two swords and summoning four more, all six now floating in the air. "Did you not listen to us the first time? Fear Us! Fear Immortality! FEAR ME!!" All six blades combined into one massive broadsword, the blade was easily twelve-feet long and the hilt was two to three-feet with a foot wide crescent moon on the pommel. He heaved on to his shoulder effortlessly with only one hand. "Hex Blade Destruction!!" He swung his blade, charged with energy, and it dissipated into six blades that spiralled down to the heroes. Everyone dove and rolled to the side as the blades crashed down where they once stood. Aeron darted down and gathered all six back into his massive sword. He summoned more Fell Souls to attack the heroes as a few bullets zoomed around him.

"Prism Chain Arts, Blasting Style: Demon Ammunition!" Claudio unloaded several barrages of energy bullets at Aeron who expertly dodged them, weaving away from all of them. "Prism Chain Arts, Blasting Style: Seeker Shot!" A red energy bullet streaked through the air, trying to get a beat on Aeron. He dodged it but the bullet arced around and punched through the breastplate and burst through his gut. "Prism Chain Art, Charge Shot!!" The empowered bullet fired towards Aeron who brought up his massive blade to deflect it. Claudio charged again, his six-foot blade appearing tiny in comparison to Aeron's fifteen-foot greatsword.

Claudio and Aeron clashed their massive blades together with quick one-handed strikes. Aeron sidestepped a lunge and wound up for a decapitating blow. Claudio ducked and Aeron put all his force behind the blow, leaving himself open following the wide arc. Claudio used his blade as a kickstand to mule kick Aeron into the air and then used his Air Hike skill to follow him up.

"Prism Chain Arts, Aerial Style: Sky Reaping!" Claudio began to spin around like a tornado, drawing the wind around him like a real whirlwind, creating a powerful current and drawing Aeron in with a series of power cuts. Aeron defended with the flat of his blade, sparks flying as he ground the spinning down to a stop. Aeron thrust his blade forward as a violent wind current surrounded it.

"Dragon Twister!" The wind dragon roared and charged for Claudio, but he had a perfect counter.

"Prism Chain Arts, Blasting Style: Spiralling Vortices!" He lunged his blade forward again, releasing the collected golden energy into a vortex to counter the dragon. The vortexes clashed together and dissipated in a bright burst of golden and blue energy. Claudio saw through the cloud and Aeron had vanished, reappearing behind Claudio and batting him with the flat of the sword and driving him through the air and into the ground.

A series of metal javelins flew from the sky as Ed used his newly acquired mental alchemy to fire the metal spears from the chassis of the car. Aeron rolled away in the air and landed on the ground, charging Ed again but was caught off guard by a series of fireballs from Sora. Everyone else dealt with the new batch of Fell Souls. Ed transmuted a gunner seat from the back of the car and got on it, riddling Aeron's area with bullets.

Quick as a cat, Aeron stopped his charge and started to strafe around Ed, going after Sora. The two clashed greatsword and Keyblade as Ed finally got a beat on Aeron. Aeron pulled away from Sora and let loose a blast of wind to destroy the gun and buffet Ed away.

"Just get lost pal!" Sora said, charging at Aeron and slashing at the midsection. The blow caused Aeron to recoil backward as the blade scratched his armour. Aeron leapt into the air again but was met by a stone spire rising from the earth. Ed had created a transmutation circle using his Keyblade, allowing him to perform alchemy on an area near the array.

"Sorry, Sora, but I still have business to attend to." Aeron snarled at the Keyblader before rearing his charged blade back again. "Dragon Fang Scar!" He swung the sword through the air as a blue beam blade cut through the sky down to Sora. He quickly cast a Reflect spell, the energy beam cutting down the honeycomb barrier and sending Sora flying away. Aeron continued his charge but he was stopped when a wind wall buffeted him. All around him winding was swirling around him, trapping him.

"What the hell is this?" He raged, bashing against the wind barrier.

"That," Ed said with a wicked smile, "would be me." He was holding out Fullmetal Fury, a red transmutation circle glowing at the head. He was using his area-affect alchemy to gather wind around Aeron and maximizing the air pressure and oxygen density. He maintained the wall and then got in close to the Immortal. He lifted his sleeve up on his metal arm and flashed his Keyblade against the metal. The two metal objects rubbing against each other created sparks that then started floating away and collecting near the high-density, high-pressure air wall.

_BOOM!!_

The wall turned into a massive oxygen bomb that engulfed Aeron in a massive conflagration. He backed away after it settled, his armour blackened by soot and his pants burned away at certain points. He kneeled down in pain as he coughed ash out of his mouth, blood dripping from his forehead.

"You bastard! When I'm finished with-" Aeron's threat was stopped when he saw Ed gathering air and water vapour at the tip of his Keyblade, again alit with a transmutation array. He was swirling the air one way and then removing the 'trash' hydrogen from the water vapour and swirling the pure oxygen the other way. The two wind currents rubbed against each other, creating wind friction. Electricity crackled against the two wind masses until it was nothing but pure wind friction lightning. He fired the lightning ray from his Keyblade and hit Aeron square in the chest, sending him away into the air again.

"You're going to what Aeron?" Edward mocked with an evil smile. "Get hit by a lightning bolt? Seems like a bad plan!"

Aeron was coughing blood. "You son of a bitch!" Sora then began to glide from the ground and collided with Aeron's blade again. Sora hit him with a series of sword strikes, catching him at the knee, destroying the greave on that leg and sending him into a downward spiral. Aeron fell to the ground, muttering curses as he clambered up, four Keyblades, two swords and a set of metal fists aimed at his head.

"Alright…" He moaned. "You win this round. But next time…will be the last time!" All the Fell Souls and Aeron vanished from existence. The group let loose a collective sigh of relief as they sheathed there weapons and sat amongst the now ruined field.

"We did it." Sora said in a relieved voice. After the fiasco at Beast's Castle, he had no idea if they could win against an Immortal. But now, not only did they injure Aeron; they had driven him off from this world. And they got a new Keyblader to boot! Sora turned to Ed and said. "Ed, you know the story about he Keyblades. We told you on the train." Ed looked at Sora with questioning eyes, still marvelling over Fullmetal Fury.

"The choice is yours Ed." Riku stated coolly to the alchemist. "You can come with us or stay."

"We won't force you to come." Kairi continued, her words actually defying Terra's orders, if someone had their blade awoken they had to come. "But I think bad things will come if you stay."

"What do you mean Kairi?" Al asked, his head was still swimming from his brother earning a Keyblade.

"The Heartless can't destroy your world but they'll come after you constantly." Claudio told the two brothers. "Because you have the Keyblade." Ed had a grim look in his eye. "And because you slighted the Immortals, they'll come after you again and again."

Claudio eyed Al for a moment. "And you saw what Aeron did. The Immortals will use Al to get to you. They'll use Al and Winry and anyone else you care about. If you come with us, we can't guarantee your safety but we can guarantee their safety."

"So," Sora finished for the group. "What will it be Ed?" The young alchemist mulled it over in his head for a second before deciding the course of action he should take. He looked to Al and knew what he needed to do.

"I'll go along," Ed declared, "but on one condition. Al comes along with me."

"Brother!" Al said in shock. "You don't have to do this. You're the Keyblader, I'll be fine alone, I promise."

"No, Al, you won't." Ed replied. "You still have the mentality of a twelve-year-old. Besides, it'll be good for the both of us to see other worlds. Who knows, maybe someone will have the answers we've been looking for?" Claudio grinned behind the alchemist.

"Finally admitting your philosophy on life is close-minded and blind?" He drawled but Ed blew him off.

"No." He said bluntly, getting up off the field and marching back to the town to say his goodbyes. "I just think we might be able to find someone who knows something on the Stone." Before Ed could leave, a Blank Keychain rose from Sora's bag and Ed shot a beam of light through the medallion and to the next world.

As everyone walked away to say goodbye or heal or whatnot, Sora admired the battlefield. Aeron proved a tough fight and it may have only been a small victory but it was victory nonetheless. Kaiser, Ramziel and Creed proved powerful but they had become strong through training and would only become stronger.

They had won.

**KHKHKH**

Later in the afternoon, aboard the helm of the Gummi Ship, following Ed and Al's introduction to the ship and Ed drooling over the amount of technology on the ship, never before seen on his world. Claudio was entering a frequency code to contact Terra, as ordered when they picked up a new Keybearer. He finished typing the twenty-six character long code and the screen buzzed on showing the dopey mug of Goofy.

"Hey guys!" Goofy declared. "It's Claudio!" Claudio cringed at the sound, hoping he'd only have to deal with Mickey or Terra.

"Um yeah…hey…Goofy is it?" The dog-faced knight nodded. "Could you get Terra on the line here?" Goofy did as he was bid and the un-armoured visage of Terra entered the screen.

"Hey Claudio!" The knight greeted cordially. "How's it going?" He didn't stop for a response. "I got a massive headache. I don't know how Sora could have travelled with Donald and Goofy. The King is nice enough but…"

"Um…Terra? Hate to interrupt but we picked up a new Keyblader." Terra raised an eyebrow.

"What's he like? Did he say what element he was master of?"

"Yeah," Claudio responded. "His name is Edward Elric, an alchemist from Amestris and is apparently the Master of Metal." Terra nodded, absorbing the info. "The thing is, it wouldn't be a big deal if we just picked him up but he insisted his brother came along so it is a little cramp." By now, Terra's other crewmates had entered the screen as Terra gazed at a star map.

"So…you guys have just left Amestris?" Claudio nodded. "Well, Traverse Town seems pretty close so why don't you head there, I'll beam down and we can deal with it there." Claudio looked at the computer on the ship console and raised an eyebrow with his findings.

"That's odd." Claudio said suspiciously. "The path the Blank Keychain set us on is to Traverse Town…" Terra whistled innocently.

"Really?" The knight said, his voice inflecting no innocence. "My, what a coincidence!" Donald hopped up behind him.

"What do you know?" The mage squawked loudly. The blast doors on the _Avenger MK II_ opened as Riku and Sora stepped in.

"I'm telling you I heard-" Sora cut himself off when he saw the video screen. "Donald! Goofy!" He ran up behind Claudio, Riku in tow, and they both rested on Claudio's shoulders, talking to their old friends. Ed and Al walked in behind the two Keybladers.

"Sora!" Ed yelled. "Don't walk away when I am – are you talking to a duck and a dog?"

"Who's the squirt?" Donald asked, the mage totally unaware of Ed's temper.

"SQUIRT!! WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PUNY LITTLE CHIHUAHUA YOU CAN KICK FOR FIFTY MILES?" The alchemist ranted to the mage.

"I never said that!" Donald defended. By now, Ed and Al were resting on Riku and Sora who were still resting on Claudio.

"Shut up!" Ed raged at the duck. "Hey, who wants Peking Duck on the menu for tonight?" A vein was bulging in Claudio's head as he rose up from under the pile, tossing the four teenagers across the room.

"Enough!!" Claudio raged at them with absolute anger. "I was trying to have a private conversation before you guys decide to dog pile on me so just leave!" He then turned around to Terra and calmly asked, "So, destination: Traverse Town?"

**KHKHKH**

On a far off world, Aeron warped back into existence in the common room of the Immortals; Creed, Tallgeese and Kira also joining him. Creed was lounging on a couch when he looked up at the fired Aeron.

"Enjoy the barbecue Aeron?" Creed muttered sleepily to his fellow Immortal.

"Shut up!" He spat at the lazy man. "How was I supposed to know they would get another Keyblader?" Tallgeese steeped his hands and nodded.

"Yes, yes, this could change our plans greatly." Aeron looked at the scientist for an explanation. "Normally only a few Keybladers are in existence at any given time but there is a legend that a rising of Keyblade Masters will come in a set cycle."

"What does that mean?" Kira asked in his harsh voice.

"Nothing or everything." Tallgeese said uncaringly. "Less or more. It makes little difference. It may affect us but we will still summons The End and we will be rid of this pathetic galaxy." He turned to Kira and said, "By the way, have you discovered the identities of the two travelling with the Keybladers." Kira looked at him with dead eyes through the mask and mumbled before getting up and leaving.

"Dude," Creed noted lazily. "You just pissed off the wrong mental patient."

**KHKHKH**

Following Claudio's videoconference with Terra, the crew trained as they always did while the ship sped through space the rest of the afternoon. Ed tried his hand at teaching Sora and Riku alchemy and, from what Claudio saw, to perform alchemy you needed one of two things: an intense interest and high brainpower. Riku lacked the former, walking away after a few minutes to go train in the simulator. Sora kept at it but he didn't possess the former and, try as he might, he always failed even the simplest of alchemical processes. Ed left soon after, his head sore from slapping his Automail arm against it.

Claudio would find himself in the kitchen, preparing dinner for the night using the remainder of the supplies they had for a good meal…it was definitely a good thing that they were going to Traverse Town in a few days. It was pretty weird to see Claudio cooking in an apron and black bandana to tie back his hair but no one laughed…that is _after_ Riku did and got smacked half way across the kitchen for his troubles. By six thirty, Claudio was spooning out a large bowl of tortilla soup for his crewmates.

"No need to say grace guys," Claudio said, seeing his crew members staring at the reddish orange soup he prepared for them. "Just dig in, but watch out. I put a jalapeno in there and you can never tell how much of a kick those things pack." Sora, Riku and Ed all put there spoons into the soup and took a few sips from it before leaping out of there chairs, tongues on fire as the jalapeno showed them its kick. The three all reached for their glasses of water and guzzled it down, putting out the fire.

"Guys, you do know that drinking water only makes spicier food spicier?" Rain brought up and the boys all realized it. The fire was out momentarily and then came back spicier than ever. They all rushed for the fridge and snatched the carton of milk, taking turns grappling it and guzzling it down to counter Claudio's soup before lying down and letting out a relieved sigh.

"Bunch of wimps." Claudio groaned, witnessing the three teenagers being knocked out from just a few spoonfuls.

"Hey Al," Kairi looked to the suit of armour opposite of her. "Why aren't you touching your soup?"

"Oh, well I can't eat it Kairi." Al said and Kairi shot him a questioning glance. "You know, nothing inside me." Kairi realized the faux pa she had committed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Al!" She quickly apologized. "I forgot. Please don't be mad with me, I didn't mean anything by it!" She then began to admonish herself. "Oh, stupid Kairi! Why did you say that?"

"No Kairi!" Al began to apologize to her. "Don't take it so harshly. It's an honest-" The two then drowned each other out in their storm apologies and self admonishments.

Sora, who had now climbed up from the floor and had resumed eating the soup, turned his attention to Claudio. "Hey, why were you speaking with Terra today, Claudio?"

"Well, you know how Terra said to contact him if we picked up a new Keyblader?" Sora, Kairi, Riku and Rain nodded. "Well, I contacted him just for that and he told me that we should go to Traverse Town and meet with him so we could decided the teams."

"Oh, new teams." Sora said with a depressed tone. "I guess we have to. Seven people in one ship really is a little crowded." He looked to Riku and Kairi. "But I don't want to let my friends go off into the unknown again."

Riku agreed with his friend. "Yeah, I have a lot of worlds that I've done bad things on. Beast's Castle was just one of them. I really don't think it will be so easy if I have to go to Agrabah or Neverland without Sora."

"Here's hoping you don't have to go to either of those worlds." Rain toasted the white-haired Keyblader.

"And I better not get separated from Al." Ed stated. "If I'm not alongside him, then there's no reason for me to be on this journey." AL nodded with his steel helmet.

"Yeah, plus we'll need you guys as guides." Al included with his brother's statement. "We've never world-hopped before."

"And I…" Kairi started, pausing before looking at Sora and blushing slightly, unnoticed by the boy in question. "I think you and Rain still have a lot to tell me about my life, Claudio." She put her eyes on the former bodyguard. "No matter what you say about your amnesia." She added, knowing the little tidbit that Kira was once her brother, so Claudio had to know _something_ about her former life.

Claudio gulped silently. _I wish we could tell you Princess._ He thought grimly, swilling his soup around lazily with his spoon. _But…too much of what you think of us lies on what happened during The Fall._

Rain broke Claudio's train of thought. "I guess we all have something to lose…no matter how we're split."

She was right. No one could have everything they wanted and have the groups divided. Riku wanted to be with Sora to smooth over any rough patches he made, and to be with Kairi to protect her. Sora wanted to be with Kairi and Riku because he had his heart set on adventuring with them… and Kairi because he still needed to profess his love. Kairi wanted to be with Claudio and Rain because of her past and Sora for the same reason the Keyblade Master wanted to be with her. Claudio and Rain wanted to stay together and be with Kairi to defend her and tell her all about her lineage. Ed wanted to stay with Al and Al wanted to stay with Ed for obvious reasons and they also wanted to be with someone with experience travelling worlds…namely Sora. No matter how you split it up, someone was going to get there heart broken and everyone knew it.

Claudio hung his head in dismay for bringing up the inevitable break up. Everyone was silent but it was Al who spoke up to try and cheer them all up. "So… who is this Terra guy anyway?"

"He's a knight," Claudio said, a slight smile showing on his face at the new topic. "I think he's not totally right in the head. He acts all humorous one moment and then becomes this stone-cold jerk. I also think he knows more about this mission then he's letting on." _Don't we all,_ Claudio wanted to say but stopped himself.

"I actually fought him once." Sora brought up. "He was really powerful. A Keyblade Wielder just like us and he could change his Keyblade's form. I have fought some really powerful people in my time but he is the absolute strongest!"

The rest of the night was spent with cheer, joy, smiles, tales and stories. Everyone shared in on the fun and the aspect of splitting up was pushed away from their minds. Claudio looked at everyone talking and acting like best friends for ages, smiling at his eclectic group. A dethroned Princess, a one-time follower of the darkness, a soul attached to a suit of armour, a pigmy alchemist and a young boy charged with holding the worlds up on his shoulder. In addition to this company, there was the silent and passionate woman that he loved and himself, just himself and nothing more.

_At least we will all have a day to spend with each other._ He thought cheerfully before going to bed for his short but pleasant rest.

**KHKHKH**

But not all rest would be pleasant for all crewmates. Riku was stuck in a dream, a bad dream. He didn't consider it a nightmare because that time he spent in the Realm of Darkness, behind the Door, made his nightmares look like nothing in comparison. He had had this dream before…but it never lasted this long. He stood on a field of inky darkness, thousands of voices surrounding him, mocking him and taunting him, most of them familiar.

_"Hypocrite." The voice that once belonged to Zexion sneered._

"_Let the darkness engulf you!" Lexaues' voice boomed at him._

"_Just an empty shell." Vexen's voice observed. "A tool to the darkness."_

"_So…you've taken on a new form?" Asked Ansem the Wise, not waiting for a response "Does it suit you better?"_

"_You once belonged to the darkness." Xehanort's Heartless called, louder than the rest. "And what the darkness claims as its own, it never lets go. Never!"_

"_I won't let you win!" Shouted Roxas. "I won't fall to you! Darkness!"_

"_How could I ever be friends with him?" The new voice asked. It hurt Riku deeper than all the other together. It belonged to Sora. "He tried to kill me. Turned his back on me and chose the darkness."_

_Riku wanted to yell at the voices but the words got caught in his throat. Another voice now began to spoke, also hurting him, for it belonged to Kairi._

"_We can't forgive him." Kairi's voice sniffed in distaste. "Look what he did to us, to the worlds!"_

"_Darkness is the heart's true essence!" Maleficent's voice cackled, a hatred burning deep in Riku's heart now. "You know this and now it is inevitable for you to fall into it!"_

"_Fight all you want," Xehanort's Heartless said again, "darkness is your power and without it you will die." An evil chuckle rang through the air. "But use it…and Sora will be forced to kill you."_

_Riku was forced to his knees from the verbal barrages from the voices of his past. He had defeated Zexion and Lexaues, Axel had murdered Vexen at Marluxia's behest, Xehanort's Heartless was dead thanks to Sora, DiZ was gone, Roxas was apart of Sora's heart, Kairi and Sora were his friends…but Maleficent. The ghosts of his past gripped onto his heart and squeezed without mercy and two figures appeared from the darkness, one to his left, and the other to his right._

"_Everyone in this journey has their power." The figure to his left, Xehanort's Heartless, told him. "Sora still is strong from his other journeys, Kairi has her light, Edward his alchemy, and Claudio and Rain have more powers than any of you." He stepped from the shadows and placed a hand on Riku's shoulder. "Darkness is all you have. Don't use it and the Immortals will destroy you." Riku glared at him with an intent malice and almost struck out at him, but the Heartless moved away and the figure to his right spoke up._

"_Riku," the figure was DiZ, AKA Ansem the Wise. "Remember what you went through in Castle Oblivion? Remember your journey? Do you want to give that up and be swallowed by the darkness? Don't let this abomination deceive you. You do not need the darkness."_

_The two figures then began to call at him, shouting his name, vying for attention and looking for Riku to heed their warnings, their story, their power. Riku was breathing heavily, his heart hurting even more from the pain. His ghost snagged his heart and began to tug and tear with all their might. Finally he just couldn't handle it._

"_Leave me alone! LEAVE ME ALONE!!" He cried out, darkness and light pulsing from his body and turning the figments of the false and real Ansem into dust. He breathed loudly, exhausted from the exertion of force he had just used. He looked up, and although his vision was blurry from exhaustion, he could see three figures on the horizon. The silhouettes of Sora and Kairi were visible but the third center figure was enshrouded in shadows, a rose coloured dawn was behind them, the sword of the sun slicing through the darkness._

_"Good Riku." The center, enshrouded figure, congratulated the Keyblader. He clapped his darkened hands together, with the shades Sora and Kairi standing still and silent. "You saw through the illusions of the heart. Seeing through the false powers they promised. You have the darkness but it is not enough. You cannot use light alone and just using darkness alone is risky. But, in the end, Ansem, both the real one and the impostor, were correct. If you do not use the darkness you will fall to the Immortals, but you must remember what you fought for in Castle Oblivion, remember your Keyblade. Remember your element."_

Riku woke up a second later, several hours passing in the short dream. He was covered in a slick, cold sweat, his heart showing him the debate he had been fighting internally for days. He had been practising mastering his lesser darkness techniques and sword skills, eschewing the full darkness he had been given. Those days seemed years ago, but in truth it was only a little more than one. But the words of the figure left him wondering, a cryptic message as all dreams delivered.

"My…element?" He asked to the darkness.

**KHKHKH**

During this event, Kairi herself was having a dream.

_She stood upon an un-hewn, rocky outcropping of the blue stone found commonly on the Radiant Garden. She actually was on the Radiant Garden, looking over her cliff to see two figures sword fighting just outside the castle of the Garden. The first figure was clearly female, wearing a suit of snow-white armour chased with brilliant gold and wielding a blade made of pure light. Her foe wore pitch-black armour with no ornament whatsoever and held a brute bastard sword, with an iron black rectangular blade wreathed in shadowy fire. The swords clashed and danced for the warriors as they did battle in front of a beautiful chair made of pure white stone. The dark fire impacted the pure light time after time and Kairi watched, mesmerized at the skill of the two knights, the white princess and the black prince. They continued their dance of death in front of castle and chair until they leapt back, blades levelled at their foes. Two angelic wings arose from the back of the female warrior and a set of identical demonic wings spread out from the black man, sprouting from his back in an unnatural ebony hellfire. The warriors floated above the ground with their wings and they swooped at one another, swords swinging together into a massive clash of black and white, dark and light. The two blades created an aura of pure, radiant gold, chased with both sparkling white dust and black flames. When it subsided, Kairi was alone, standing in front of the white chair the warriors fought over._

"_And so you have now seen it Princess," a voice ringed through the empty air, "the future with no definite outcome for it is as fluid and ever-changing as the ocean." The owner of the voice was blunt, to the point and emotionless but not without courtesy. The speaker itself was a man whose body was covered by a red cloak. "Hello, Your Grace." He welcomed with a bow. "How did you like the vision?"_

"_Vision?" Kairi asked with hollow eyes, confused once again by her dreams. "This is the Radiant Garden, right? Was that…was that me and Kira?"_

"_Yes," the stranger admitted. "Or rather representations of you and Kira." Kairi's eyes fell sullenly._

"_Is…is Kira really my brother?" The man nodded._

"_Yes, but no more. Kira was once your brother but now only an Immortal stands in his place with an unhealthy obsession over his estranged sister and nothing but animosity towards you." The man walked up to her and began to touch the white chair. "I will not tell you what your brother Kross was like, I will let Claudio tell you that tale."_

"_Claudio and Rain, they can't remember much from the Garden." She stated sadly, wanting direly to know her past._

_The man tilted his head to her and flashed an invisible smile to her. "You just need to be persistent." He then took his hand off the chair and looked to the sky. "Kira will tell you about your past, your legacy and your heritage. Claudio will tell you about your past, your legacy and your heritage. But it is for you to discerns the truths from the falsities and then make your claim to your rightful spot." He turned to her and flashed another invisible smile. "Kairi Trinias Altus Ralleone, the Crown Princess of Light, Lady of The Citadel, Shield of Radian Port, true ruler of the Bright Stone Chair and the last to the line of the Monarchs of the Radiant Garden. It is not a right you can choose to take or not to take, it is in your blood and you must take your birthright one day or another." The enigmatic man walked away from her, leaving her once again perplexed beyond all belief._

"_Will I have to fight Kira in the future?" She asked after a pause. The man stopped and sunk his head._

"_Yes." He stated. "Yes, you will have to. And to beat him you must use your birthright." She raised an eyebrow. "Claudio has the right of it, teaching you how to use your light. That is the power of the Radiant Garden and its rulers. No matter how much Kira sways you to darkness, stay in the light. You cannot be burned. You cannot be blinded. You can only flourish."_

**To Be Continued**

_Who didn't see Ed as this world's Keyblader, honestly? At any rate, now we get to the part of the story where the party splits. Any idea as to what the teams will be?_

_Now, taking a note from great KH fictions by great authors like Darius Almighty (a fellow Canadian), MrFipp, and Shire Folk (another fellow Canadian), I have added summon charms. Here is the description of the charm for this chapter:_

_"He handed Sora a silver oval with the image of a snake placed over the silhouette of a man."_

_There is no contest for whoever guesses who the summoned being is but it is a good guessing game for you guys. Here is the additional clue:_

_This man is a video game star whose debut adventure was on the MSX. He recently starred in his (apparently) final game and was in a collective fighting game on a console for a rival competitor._

Journal Set # 5

Aeron

The Tenth-Ranked Immortal, Aeron acts calm and cool but it actually masks his rage and arrogance. He first appeared with Kira and Kaiser, threatening the Keybladers on the Destiny Islands. He then later attacked Edward and Alphonse Elric on Amestris, damaging Al's body and destroying Ed's arm and leg. Aeron then appeared in Resembool to attack the group again but was fought away with the combined effort of Sora, Ed and Claudio. Aeron wields six blades that he can fuse into various weapons and attacks with various energy and wind attacks.

Keyblader Profile #1

Edward Elric

**Keyblade:** Fullmetal Fury

**Master Element:** Metal

**Class:** Alchemist

**Pre-Keyblade Powers:** Master alchemist, able to use alchemy without a circle, master strategist and has an Automail arm and leg

**Keyblade Powers:** Able to perform mental alchemy on metallic objects, can create alchemic arrays with Keyblade for area-effect alchemy, able to gather elements before using alchemy and amplifies his already powerful alchemical skill.

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	16. Roads Less Traversed

_Not much to say this week except that i may or may not be able to put a chapter up next week. Also, a warning to younger viewers, a character (by the name of Josef Trinity) uses profuse and coarse language...morseo than anyone else, so a word of caution._

_There, my civic duties are done._

Chapter 16: Roads Less Traversed

Far away in the Castle That Never Was, Maleficent felt her temper boiling in her. All the plans and preparations that she spent so much time building up were blowing up in her face. Within days of each other the Keyblade Master and his friends killed both Morgan and Gaston and both of them failed to capture any of the Princesses. And now, not only was there another Keyblader amongst the worlds but also those Immortals were striking faster and more prodigious than she had planned. These foes didn't seem content to lie on the sidelines like the Organization; they planned to get their own hands dirty, that was plainly visible. Her train of thought was interrupted when Mr. Dark and Pete walked in for a meeting she had arranged.

"And how are we this day, my Lady Maleficent?" Dark asked, twiddling his wiry moustache and bowing deeply to the witch.

"Not so well Dark." Maleficent replied to the mystic. Dark chortled at the comment.

"And why is that?" He asked. Dark turned on his heels and took of his top hat, motioning behind him and Pete. "Allow me to present to you the three newest acquisitions of my Pandemonium Shadow Show! Attraction #1: Cinderella!" A spotlight flashed down on the unconscious form of one of the Princesses of Heart. "Attraction #2: Snow White!" Another spotlight shone on the next Princess. "And finally, attraction #3: Alice!" A final spotlight shone on the final Princess. Dark then tapped the top of his hat twice and a wand fell out into his hand. He swished it and they three vanished into dark wisps. "They are, of course, additions to Aurora who was delivered to us by our steadfast associate Mr. Jones." Pete huffed behind the magician.

"Hey, I helped to bub!" Dark ignored the fat cat man. "You know, you noobies need to be taught a little respect from your more senior members!"

"Tell me when you find a _competent_ senior member." Dark sniffed at the lummox. Pete reared up, temper flaring and opened his mouth but he was shut down almost instantly.

"Quiet you simpering fool!" Maleficent commanded and in an instant, Pete was cowering away from the witch. "Thank you Mr. Dark, it seemed I made the right choice by taking you and Jones as allies." Dark smiled and bowed deeply again.

"I live only to serve, my Lady." Dark said before rising again. "Now, if I may be so bold as to ask for a reward." Maleficent smirked at the proposal. "There are two travelling with the Keyblader that I have ran into in the past. If I may intercept there ship with my train and show them the true meaning of fear! And of course, deliver you the Princess Kairi."

"We will wait until we have the other six in our grasp." Maleficent said and Dark didn't seem too crestfallen. "But for now, Pete!" The cat man stood up. "Go and test out those new Heartless I created the other day, find a suitable world and leave at once!" He saluted and lumbered away. "And for you Dark, go capture Belle since Gaston failed." Dark bowed again and removed his hat, his entire being slurping into the hat and the hat vanishing into a swirling void.

Maleficent sat back upon her throne and reflected on her new allies. She had at least two she could depend upon. Gaston and Morgan let there vanity get in the way, Mozenrath had made no contact since the initial meeting and Pete was useless…but the combined efforts of Davey Jones and Mr. Dark had given her over half the Princesses in less than a week. Her train of thought was broken up again when she heard the telltale swirling sound of a dark portal.

"Who's there?" She commanded to the darkness, no answer coming. "As Queen of the Darkness, I order you to reveal your presence at once."

An inky portal appeared before her and a figure stood halfway in between the portal and the throne room. The figure shook its head and clicked its tongues. "The Queen of Darkness?" The stranger, a man, repeated with a mocking and swaggering tone and a Hispanic accent. "You're powers over the darkness are pathetic, nothing more than illusions of grandeur." Maleficent let her rage flare as an emerald fireball raced to the stranger. The flames hit the strangers but did nothing as a shield of dark energy enwrapped over him and denied the fire its prey.

"You see?" He rocked his head side to side in a mocking fashion. "You think you are in control of the game, but in the back of your head you know you are just another pawn for my master."

"And who is that?" Maleficent demanded of the invader. "I command to tell me who you serve!"

"I serve who you serve, I serve the man who gave you the darkness in the first place." Maleficent's pallid green flesh turned a shade paler. "I serve the one and true King of Darkness!"

"Impossible! He's been gone for ages, all of the darkness knows this."

"Wrong!" He pointed an accusatorial finger at the witch. "He was simply broken and shattered. And what is broken can be fixed. Everyday he grows stronger, every passing hour a little more of him is recovered and in less than a half a year's time he will be complete and his destiny shall be revealed." The stranger looked at the eyes of the witch through his dark shroud. She was visibly scared. "I myself serve as an envoy for His Grace. His apprentice will come to see you in a few days time, to see if you are of…use to us."

"Clearly I am!" Maleficent declared after a pause, swallowing her fear of the man's master. "I have already captured four of the seven Princesses of Heart. Surely that is a token of my worth to him."

The man swung his head in a rhythm, considering her statement. "Yes, that is impressive. Now, catch the other three within the week and the Dark Knight may consider you worthy. _Maybe_" He put severe stress on the last word. "Adios, tu vieja bruja." He vanished into the darkness and left Maleficent to think upon his words. She wasn't given much thought though as the man said once last phrase from the thin air before finally vanishing. "Oh, and I truly do think you will fail."

**KHKHKH**

The group made landfall at Traverse Town, the small Victorian Era villa that Sora first landed in at the start of his journey… that seemed so long ago. Traverse Town hadn't changed much since Sora had left it and it's old style buildings and cobblestone streets. The only notable thing was that the amount of people around town had dropped sharply. All over the town were posters plastered to walls and lampposts that declared Gummi Ship departures for the Radiant Garden for 'All former citizens of the Radiant Garden and anyone wishing to find safe anchorage and is currently dispossessed of their home world'. It seemed that Traverse Town's use was done for now.

"So, Sora," Ed began, checking over one of the posters nearby, "what is with this departure stuff? Why are these people so easy to abandon their town?"

"Because Traverse Town was set up as a refuge world for anyone who survived the Heartless attack during Maleficent's first strike." Sora explained to the alchemist. "But now that the Radiant Garden has been retaken and is being colonized again, Traverse Town is really not needed any more." He turned and flashed his group a cheesy smile. "And all thanks to yours truly of course." Ed waved him off.

"Yeah, yeah," Ed said in an uninterested tone. "We know you're the big hero, big deal. I got this kind of rep back home too. But…" He craned his head to look around the buildings and the permanent night sky. "What is with this world? It seems less advanced than ours. I was expecting…I don't know but something different!"

"Well Ed you have to learn that not every world has a huge amount of futuristic technology." Riku shot the alchemist down. "Most worlds are either less advanced than yours." The alchemist went crestfallen. "And those that are more advanced are only more advanced by a few decades of progress."

"So, what kinds of worlds are out there?" Al asked Riku and Kairi who was standing next to him.

"I think we should let Sora handle this one." Kairi admitted and Sora smiled.

"There's a world based on Greek mythology, a world in ancient China, a pirate world, a world were no one ever ages. A desert world, a world were there is nothing but wild animals to inhabit it, a world based around the holiday of Halloween and a world entirely situated underwater."

"Well, here's hoping when we split Al and I don't end up on the water world." Ed said with an easy smile.

"Let me guess?" Rain puzzled over the statement. "If Al's body enters water above his chest cavity, it will remove his blood seal?" She looked at Ed's arm and leg. "And your limbs would probably rust up or malfunction in some way." Ed nodded at both statements.

"Speaking of the split up," Claudio interjected himself into the conversation, he was now wearing a version of the silver trench coat he first wore except this one didn't have the exaggerated coattails and had a larger butterfly and a black fur collar. "I have a little gift for you Sora." Claudio rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a small silver disk. The disk was about the size of the palm of Sora's hand with his crown symbol from his necklace engraved on the face and four gems embedded in it at even points. One red, one blue, one yellow, and one white. Claudio tossed it at Sora who fumbled with it and nearly dropped it.

"What is this?" The Keyblade Master spied it curiously.

"That is a little creation of mine." Claudio answered. "After watching all the recorded footage of your Drive Forms from your last adventure, analyzing your clothing and Ed's pocket watch, I was able to craft this little beauty. You can only perform two Drive Forms without Donald and Goofy, correct?" Sora nodded and Claudio smiled slyly. "Well, that changes that. You can now perform your Valour and Wisdom Drive Forms using other people as 'substitute Drive components'. Also, it enhances your Drive powers, meaning you can stay in Drive for longer and will fell less exhausted afterwards. What's more, that, theoretically, you will be able to perform unique Drives after a time by using people close to your heart as components. That is all theoretical of course."

Sora, Kairi, Riku, Ed and Al all blinked (well, Al didn't, since his helmet really didn't have eyes) blankly at Claudio's long, confusing explanation. Sora looked down at the disk, examining it and holding it up against the night sky. "So…it pretty much just powers up my Drives?" Claudio rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath.

"Yeah Sora," Rain explained politely for her indignant husband. "That's pretty much it."

"And I'm not done yet." Claudio declared. Ed and Riku sighed loudly and Claudio knew why. "Don't worry, no long, drawn out explanations. I just noticed that the Princess-"

"Kairi," the Princess in name corrected softly.

"Right – I noticed that Princess Kairi," she rolled her eyes at the title, sometimes she thought he'd never learn. "I noticed that her strength in magic and sword fighting could increase and I came up with a conclusion." He dug into his pocket again and pulled out a small Keychain. It was a little star made of five shells conjoined at the ends. The Oathkeeper Keychain. "Try changing Keychains to increase your Keyblade's power."

Kairi summoned Blooming Radiance and removed its flowery Keychain, subbing it with the shell chain. Golden light enwrapped the Keyblade and a white angelic blade replaced the golden flower blade, the main haft made of two snow-white shafts, angel wings descending to form the guard. The shafts merged at the head to create a star-like Key head with a blue heart formed at the center. As the blade formed and she took the other Keychain and put it into her pocket she could feel a tranquil feeling wash over her and an unknown wisdom enter her mind.

"Amazing," she remarked as she inspected her blade and he new power. "Just from changing the Keychain…I can actually feel the difference."

"Where did you get that Keychain?" Sora demanded the taller man.

"From the cabinet in your room," he answered coolly.

"You broke into my room?"

"No," Claudio said without a hint of guilt. "The door was unlocked and open, I hardly call that 'breaking in'." Sora just stared at him with a gaping mouth at the audacity of the warrior. He shot him a sly smile. "All for the Princess." He said in reply to the silent stare.

"So any more presents for us?" Ed asked with his cheeky smile.

"Not for a shrimp like you." Claudio muttered. The smile on Ed's face instantly turned into a scowl and he went into a trademark berserk rage. He leapt into the air and booted Claudio in the face.

"SHRIMP? SHRIMP?" Ed roared in his usual fury at being called short. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT HE COULD MARRY THUMBELINA?" Claudio pushed Ed off of his face and glared at him with anger to match Ed's.

"Who do you think I am calling a shrimp?" He roared at the alchemist, who was shorter than him by nearly a foot and a half. "Do you see anyone else shorter than you?"

"WELL, WHERE DO YOU GET OFF CALLING ME SHORT?" Ed raged in argument, only serving to fan Claudio's anger.

"Brother…" Al protested meekly as the others only looked on in embarrassment and shock.

"I GET OFF CALLING YOU SHORT BECAUSE YOU NEED HAIR AND BOOTS TO BREAK FIVE FEET!!"

Ed growled loudly before clapping his hands together and slamming them on the ground. A blue light pooled around Claudio and the cobblestones rose up and formed around Claudio, forcing him so that Claudio looked like he was sitting with his chin resting on his right fist. Ed had turned Claudio into a living thinking man. The alchemist smiled smugly at his own work.

"There!" He said proudly, dusting off the dirt from his gloves. "Now maybe you can think of an apology for calling me a shrimp!" Claudio glowered at Ed from his living art prison.

"Very funny!" He roared before squirming around in the tight stone confinements of Ed's alchemy. "Now when I get out of here…" He left the end of his threat hanging in the air as he shrugged around and chipped the stone away with his strength so he was once again standing normally. "I'm going to kick your ass!"

"Bring it on!" Ed challenged. Both adventurers wound up their right fists and charged their adversary. Claudio went low and Ed went high as they cracked into each other's jaws and sent each other flying away, Claudio do to Ed's metal arm and Ed do to Claudio's inhuman strength.

_God help us if they're on the same team._ Sora thought in despair, smacking his palm on his head. Rain had moved to help Claudio up and Al did the same for Ed.

"Now if you two are quiet done…" Riku warned from the sidelines. "We have a mission to do."

"Oh yeah, that." Ed said in realization, probably forgetting the mission in his tizzy with Claudio. "So what's the agenda? Find the Keyhole? Same old, same old?"

"No, I sealed the Keyhole on our first journey." Sora explained.

"Yeah, isn't it in the fountain in the Second District?" Kairi asked and Sora nodded.

"Then what do we do until the medallion fires off?" Rain asked the young kid.

"No clue." He shrugged and the others sagged and sighed in despair.

"Don't worry," Claudio muttered. "Trouble will find us." He looked into the night's sky, every star another world, each one in danger because of the Immortals and Maleficent. "Trouble always finds us." He then looked at his fellow travellers. Him and his wife, of no world affiliation, Al and Ed from Amestris, Kairi from the Destiny Islands by way of the Radiant Garden and Sora and Riku, natural born Islanders; an eclectic group that would only get more eclectic as time go one. "And knowing our luck, it will-"

He was cut off as a small stone hit him in the head. He looked around for the annoyance and then a bombardment of pebbles rained down on him. A large chunk of stone caught him in the head and then another in the shin and he went down.

"Ed!" Kairi chided as the barrage continued to rain down on Claudio, the others spacing themselves out from it as they couldn't take the pain like he could.

"Hey, this isn't me!" The alchemist defended. Rain was looking for what was causing the attack on Claudio.

"Hey!" She called out, a tone of anger in her voice not heard of by the others. "Come out now and stop this!" The barrage didn't cease. She furrowed her brow and then stuck out her hand, using the Draw to drag three young kids off the roof of a nearby building and onto the cobblestones.

They were younger than even Al, around twelve or thirteen, and there were two of them, both boys. The first one had black hair slicked back to the end of his neck. He wore a red collared shirt, worn open and a shirt underneath it with two belts crossing across the shirt. He had bagging black shirts and sandals. The second one had short blonde hair but no one could see the length of it as he wore a toque on his head. He wore a white muscle shirt and a black vest over top of it. He also had bagging grey pants and sandals. Both boys had scowls on there faces directed at Rain and Claudio.

"You see Cole!" The black haired one said to the other. "It is them! Only that witch could use powers like that!" Rain scowled heavily at being called a witch.

"Okay, I see it," The blonde, Cole, replied impatiently, "I saw it when we were pulled from the roof Micah, but that is neither here nor there." He pointed an accusatorial finger at Rain. "Why are you two back here? I thought we got rid of you monsters three months ago!"

"Monsters?" Rain flared, utterly overtaken in her vehement anger. "You call us monsters? You who attack your fellow humans?"

"Humans?" Micah scoffed. "The only humans I see are me and Cole, when I look at you I see two out of place weirdoes with strange powers." Claudio was breathing heavily, his breathe seething with rage. Rain went beside him and tried to comfort him decide her great anger.

"Yeah!" Cole agreed with his friend. "And look at their buddies!" He waved a finger at the others. "They look like freaks too! Probably here to finish the job they started three years ago." Rain narrowed her eyes in anger again.

"Excuse me, but what is going on?" Kairi asked in confusion. "What are these two talking about? Rain?" Rain looked at her, her eyes empty of anger but full of hurt.

"Kairi," she began, obviously not knowing how to word her next words. Fortunately she didn't need to as another stranger walked up to the scene.

She wore yellow trousers and a yellow blouse with dagged sleeves so they spread out all wide and nearly dragged on the ground as she walked. She had long blonde hair, blue eyes and carried a wooden practice sword in her hands.

"You two stop pestering these people." The woman ordered; her voice clearly used to commanding people. "Did you not learn to respect your elders? Back to the orphanage, now!" She whistled her stick sword through the air, licking it lightly at the boy's thighs as they ran off. The woman turned to the heroes and smiled congenially. "I so sorry about that young Keyblade Master and companions." Sora looked more confused than ever at what was going on. "Allow me to introduce myself." The woman continued. "My name is Celes Chere, it is an honour to meet your Sora." She extended her hand in welcome and Sora shook it.

"Hello yourself Celes." He welcomed back and then motioned to his friends. "This is Riku, Kairi, Ed, Al, Rain and Claudio." He looked and still saw Claudio lying face down in the street, blood pooling by his head. "So, who were those two and how do you know of me?"

"Oh, well I was helping Leon dealing with the Heartless the last time you were here." She explained. "I am leaving in two days for the Garden to join with them once again. And those two," she looked at Claudio and Rain, who was comforting her husband, still down from the rock. "Those two were orphans from the local orphanage."

"But why did they attack Claudio and Rain?" Riku asked. At this point in time, Claudio rose from the ground, the wound on his skull healed by his regeneration factor. He had a depressed sullen look in his eyes but was otherwise no worse for wear.

"When we lived here, we were common patrons of the orphanage." Claudio explained, the sullen look in his eyes extending to his voice. "We helped built it, we repaired it and defended from Heartless attacks and, when we could, we donated money to them. Our powers were on full display; some saw us like we were superheroes come to life. Others saw us as unnatural and came to become suspicious of us, later despising us. Those two were of the later." He sighed and hung his head in despair. He went over to Rain and hugged her, comforting her from the verbal barrage she had suffered.

Rain was usually cool and calm, stalwart as a glacier. But when she was accused of being something not human, being called 'monster' or 'freak' or 'mutant', it drove her into a raging inferno. Her anger was revealed for all to see and it was really a scaring sight. Claudio was used to it, seeing it back on Beast's Castle when the villagers condemned Beast for just being a beast. Claudio may have been the victim of the physical assault, but Rain needed to be comforted, her psyche being damaged by the boy's verbal assault.

By now, Claudio saw that a bit of time had passed since he trailed off into thought. Sora was speaking with Celes who was starting to walk away.

"It was great meeting you in person Sora," she said while she walked in a precise military march. "But I have business to attend to. And I think I'll stop by the orphanage and give the administrators a word of what happened here today. Farewell." She waved and walked off in a brisk trot down to the cobblestone road.

"Are you two going to be okay?" Kairi asked her family's former bodyguards. Claudio shrugged.

"It's nothing Princess." She winced again as Claudio said the 'P' word. "You don't need to worry yourself about us."

"Well, Rain seems pretty shaken up." Al noted but Rain shook her head.

"I can deal with it." She replied solemnly. The others looked dubious. "Seriously guys don't worry. What's wrong?"

"Well," Riku began, looking the most dubious of the lot. "It's just we've never really seen you angry before." He lied, covering the incident at Beast's Castle "Frankly it was scaring." Rain hung her head in shame.

"Guess I should learn to control my rage better." She said monotonously.

"No, I didn't mean that!" Riku said quickly.

"It's just that," Kairi stammered after Riku's response. "Well, we've never seen you get angry before, it was strange for you." Rain sighed again, still despondent.

"I just can't take it when people call me…those words." Claudio once again put his arms around her and pressed her head into his chest.

"I was afraid this might happen if we came back here." Claudio stated quietly, but still loud enough for the others to hear. "We've done a lot of things for people to hate us in this town. We've fought Heartless countless times, using it to set up a business. We were accused several times of being opportunists, people thinking we sent the Heartless to make money off them. We had to fight several Organization XIII members here, it always ended badly for the town, buildings got damaged and people got hurt. Six years ago, we faced off against several Immortals in back-to-back brawls that left the city in extreme disrepair. They have every right to fear us, but for what we have done for this city, they have no right to hate us like that."

An ill, awkward silence fell over the group as that little piece of Claudio and Rain's life was brought into their view. Everyone tried to think of words to comfort the two but they couldn't articulate them properly. Claudio sensed this and shrugged.

"Like I said, it is no big deal." He repeated with an easy smile, putting an arm over Rain who smiled slightly too. "Now, we have some business to attend to."

"And what would that be?" Al asked.

"Finding trouble." Claudio responded with his easy tone. "That seems to be the only trigger for those damn Blank Keychains."

"Is that your solution for everything?" Riku questioned mockingly. "Find trouble, get are asses kicked and hope the Keychain signals off?"

"Hey, hey, hey, if you aren't pitching, quit your bitching." Claudio fired back to the white haired boy he growled at him silently. "Now, if there are any better suggestions as to what we can do to get out of here…" No one said a word. "As I thought."

The group then heard a series of fast, quick and heavy footfalls as someone approached them. They could see the figure of a young girl running through the night, running as fast as her legs could carry her on a collision course to Rain and Claudio. She squealed in delight as she bowled into the two and sent them rolling away from the energetic and affectionate tackle-glomp. The others looked at the scene once more through blank eyes as the three regained their composure and the young girl embraced the two older people, gushing all along.

"Claudio! Rain!" She ecstatically cried while hugging them. She was a young girl; around thirteen like the other boys who appeared earlier. She had short-cropped dirty blonde hair streaked with black and pink and had silver loops pierced in her ears, her lip and one of her eyebrows. She wore a light rosy pink and white top, black fingerless gloves, fishnet arm socks, two leather belts that formed an X on her waist, one of which was studded with steel rivets, a black skirt that went down to her knees with a light red rose pattern etched onto it and boots with cuffs cut at the ankle.

"God I missed you two so much!" She gushed, still latched onto the downed warriors. "Never leave again. Never ever, ever, ever!"

Claudio groaned from his position under the girl and under half of Rain. "Easy Mia, if you keep tackling us like that then we won't be around for much longer." The girl relented, getting off of the two and standing up. Claudio rose and helped Rain up and then put his hand on the girl's head, mussing up her hair. "And the way you act it seems like we were gone for three years, not three months." Mia pulled away from his hand and smile at the much taller man.

"Well, it's just been so boring without you two around!" She exclaimed in retaliation. "Ever since Leon and the others left for the Radiant Garden nothing has been going on that didn't involve you two! And then you leave in a flash and there's nothing to do! So, why are you here now? Twilight Town go belly up and you're setting up shop again? I made sure no one went into your former offices and I kept them nice in clean. Oh, how I've waited for this day!"

"Calm down Mia." Rain laughed at the hyperactive girl. "We are here only for a while." The smile fell right off her face. "Its business, I know you're sad but I promise once we're done we'll come right back here." The girl grinned again and started to jump for joy at the prospect.

"Let me introduce everyone." Rain said after her spectacle. "This is Sora, Kairi, Riku, Edward and Alphonse." She motioned Mia over to the Warriors of Light. "Everyone, this is Mia, our 'unofficial' adopted daughter."

Sora eyed Mia for a second, a thought popping into his head. _Another person from my dream; I don't care what Claudio says; I bet she'll be getting a Keyblade._

"What do you mean by 'unofficial'?" Riku asked the husband and wife.

"Well, she is one of the orphans that we regularly visit," Claudio explained, "we never really adopted her because of how dangerous our jobs were and because we just weren't ready for a kid." A thought popped into his head and he turned on his heel to speak to Mia. "Oh, Mia, do you still have what I gave you before we left?"

"Yep!" She replied cheerfully, bobbing her head up and down. She then tugged at Claudio and the two of them went down the same path Celes did for an unknown reason.

"Well…she was…different." Ed said, suffering a little shellshock from the suddenness of the event.

"You mean different in how she didn't make fun of your height?" Riku muttered smugly, just loud enough for Ed to hear him. The alchemist growled in anger but Riku ignored him. "But what is Claudio getting?" Rain shook her head in dismay and mumbled something.

"A massive piece of junk that does nothing more than make noise and stink up the air." Rain grumbled at the prospect of what was about to come. They all heard it soon enough, a loud engine roaring and revving down the road. They turned to see Claudio and Mia riding down the street on a massive black motorcycle. They swerved in next to the group and Claudio put down the kickstand for his bike.

"And now I introduce you to Claudio's heap of motor trash." Rain said sullenly as Claudio hopped off the bike. He looked at her and gave a fake laugh at her comment.

"Funny Rain. Simply hilarious." He then motioned to his bike. "Now to really introduce the MSX-5109AGZ SHINRA Motorcycle." He flashed a wide smile. "Also commonly known as the Sleipnir."

"Sleipnir?" Riku looked the bike over. "As in Odin's horse?"

"Correct!" Claudio was showing an exuberant mood over the acquisition of his new vehicle. "It was dubbed Sleipnir as it is a unique model, the only one in existence. The only other model that can touch it in performance is its sister model, the Fenrir. And as you can plainly see, the bike has a reference to Sleipnir. Sleipnir had eight legs and the MSX has eight tires." He motioned to the front wheel, which had four independent tires on it. The back wheel was exactly the same. "This is my pride and joy and it nearly broke my heart when we had to leave with out it." He rubbed his face against the tinted windshield of the bike and cooed it in a small voice.

"That's sick." Sora commented dryly on the emotion Claudio was showing for his vehicle. "And besides, how are we going to get that thing back on the ship." Claudio rummaged into his pockets again and pulled out a black-and-red cell phone and waved it at the Keyblader.

"These phones are attached to the Gummi Ship's system and allow me to access a lot of things including the teleportation bay. So I can have it lock on to the bike and transfer it up to the ship. But for now," he stowed his phone away and climbed onto the bike. He drove the key into the ignition and turned it on, the engine roaring to life. Two panels at the side of the bike lifted up and folded out at a diagonal angle. He took High Streak off his back and slid it into the panel. He drove the bike around in a wide circle and grabbed Rain by the waist, hoisting her up onto the front seat and then revved the bike again and rode off away from the rest of the group.

The others watched as they rode away and one question flitted through everyone's mind.

What the hell do we do now?

**KHKHKH**

From atop the clock tower of Traverse Town, two people watched the scene in the Second District with little to no amusement. The first one was a man wore a pure white outfit designed like a jogging suit and a skull cap with the splintered heart of the Immortals draw on it in yellow. He had dark skin, dark hair and yellow eyes and his teeth were defined and sharp like fangs.He The woman next to him also had dark hair, dark skin and yellow eyes. She had jeans, high-heeled boots, a black top and a hooded white vest with the Immortal's symbol marked on the back. She had cloth bracers on her wrists and very fine, near invisible, circuitry lining on her skin and clothing.

"So, you know what needs to be done brother?" The woman asked her brother.

"Yeah, yeah." He replied in a cocky and restless tone. "Knock off the Keybladers, get that girl and offer her heart. Same old, same old." She narrowed her eyes at her brother.

"Not same old, same old Josef!" She snapped. "I've gotten reports that both Creed and Aeron failed their missions. If we can complete ours, it will speak volumes of our worth to Lord Cassius, we cannot screw it up."

"Can it Vaniele!" Josef shot back. "You bitch! I know what I have to do." He then cackled, amused by his own thought. "Man that punk ass bitch Sora hasn't seen nothing like before! I'm going to mess him up so freaking much!" He began to cackle insanely and Vaniele shook her heads.

"Sometimes you worry me, little brother."

"And sometimes you have to calm down and find the humour in life!" Josef said to his older sister. "Just laugh and know we can't mess this up. After all, we are the Trinity Siblings."

**KHKHKH**

Claudio had taken Rain and Sleipnir off from the Second District and just toured the town. They went all over the town on the monstrous cycle, the engine roaring and the two warriors laughing for no apparent reason. They went across the First, Second and Third Districts, around the town gates, through the gizmo shop until they finally came to their destination above said gizmo shop and the clock tower. Claudio parked Sleipnir and he and Rain lied down upon the rooftop, staring at the night sky and all the stars populating it, each star a world of its own.

Claudio himself had taken the little sidetrack just to think more than anything else. Too much had happened in too short of time. He hadn't seen hide or hair of the Immortals for six years and now they appear again. Not one of them recognized him but he realized it was only a matter of time. Seeing Mia and those two boys from the orphanage also set his mind spiralling. He kept thinking of what he was, of his past, of what he once was…so long ago. Kairi was alive; he had purpose in his life once again. Twenty years ago he gave up his life for service to the Radiant Garden for ten years straight. The ten years following The Fall were empty compared to his time serving her family. Ten years of servitude followed by ten years of wondering around the worlds, acting as a bounty hunter and bodyguard. A sad life.

Rain didn't seem too interested in the past, trying to move what she really was out of her mind as quick as possible. She was star gazing, looking at all the worlds above them and all the constellations formed by them. She hadn't done this in a long time and was surprised to notice a brand new constellation that she had never seen before.

"Hey, Claudio," she nudged her husband lazily with her elbow, "check out that constellation." She pointed upwards to said constellation and Claudio followed her finger, seeing three familiar figures, a duck, a dog and a spiky haired young boy. He laughed quietly at the stars.

"He was actually telling the truth." Claudio commented in disbelief. "The Gods of Olympia must truly be crazy if they made a constellation out of those three."

"What do you think it's called?" Rain asked, not expecting an answer, or a good answer at least.

"The Three Wandering Idiots." He quipped. Rain smiled at the answer and rolled over on top of her husband. She smiled down on the taller man and he smiled back. He placed a hand on the back of her head and stroked her fine auburn hair; she smiled all the sweeter at this. She placed her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat, beat, beat and wedged her hands underneath him to hug her love closer to her.

"Do you think we should tell them?" Claudio asked suddenly, apparently uninterested in his loving wife. "About it all." He continued, still gazing up to the dark sky lit up by the stars. "About…our past."

"I don't know." She said, sitting up slightly and then planting a kiss on his lips, lightly at first. She released and did it again, harder this time. "And I don't really care." She pressed her lips down once more and Claudio finally responded, with his own loving embrace of his lips. Against his teeth, he felt something soft press up against them, begging for entry. He wasn't cruel and opened his mouth, letting her tongue enter his mouth and snaking his tongue into hers. The two muscles snaked and swirled around each other in foreign mouths, saliva swapping, soft moans resonating only to each other. This was an act these two were familiar with as they wrestled with one another in a playful show of dominance, they wriggled and writhed and danced, smacking and swirling and slapping in a show of love, romance, lust and longing. In the end, after an unknown amount of time passed, their tongues retreated to their respective mouths, the taste of their lover lingering in their mouths.

"What brought that one?" Claudio asked after a long pause, his wife cradled in his arms, head resting on his chest.

"Just being back here. Seeing Mia and being around the Princess for nearly a week." She ran her fingers through his fine but unkempt hair. She loved each strand, kept in long, loose spikes. "It roused an old fire in me." Claudio smiled at her signalling he liked this old fire.

"Keep it burning." He said softly. "We need a fire inside someone's heart, someone to keep the passion of our journey alive." He turned away from her and looked to the sky once more. "We also need a fire against those damned Immortals."

"Still have a grudge for them?" Rain asked, a forlorn look entered her eyes and it then transferred into Claudio's.

"More than you know." He stated bitterly, not wanting to relive the memories. "Kira was Kross, there's unsettled business there. There's Cassius and Kaiser and then there's Tallgeese… a lot of the pain now came from him and the witch." Claudio sat up, breaking from Rain's grasp as a downcast look settled on his face. "Should I tell her?" She raised an eyebrow "About The Fall? About how it really happened?"

Rain smiled sweetly and then rose up to meet him again, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Do what you always do in every situation you meet." She offered before fully standing up and stretching out her body. "Follow you heart."

Claudio looked at her body under the star and moonlight, the lithe limbs stretching out in the illuminated darkness. He couldn't help but smile and love her even more.

"Follow my heart." He repeated after the emotion washed over him. "Yeah, that always worked out for me."

"Hey!" Riku's voiced called up from below them. He and the others, including Mia, were standing below and motioning to them above on the tower. "You two done with your little love-in yet?" The white haired Keyblader asked in a sardonic tone. "If you are, then get down here. If not, stay fifty feet away from me until we leave this world."

Claudio rolled his eyes, not visible to the Keybladers below. Rain had already teleported to the streets below so Claudio took out his phone from the Gummi Ship and touched a few keys; a ray of light shot down from space and caught the Sleipnir in a portal, warping it up to the ship. Claudio then jumped down from the tower, coat flapping in the wind during his downfall.

"So?" Riku asked with a mocking grin when Claudio made landfall. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Ha, ha," Claudio replied in a derisive tone. "You know, just because you're still a virgin doesn't give you the right to turn your anger on us loving couples." He draped an arm over Rain for effect. She smiled for a second, but only a second as Mia leapt up in between the two lovers, separating them.

"Claudio!" She half yelled, half whined. "Why didn't you tell me about your quest?"

"Who spilled the beans?" He asked in an annoyed tone.

"We're all kind of guilt on that account." Sora admitted.

"Not me!" Ed declared. "I wanted nothing to do with that brat!"

"Who are you calling a brat?" An enraged Mia screamed. 'Brat' was one of her trigger words, like Ed and any version of short. "I'm almost fourteen, you little midget."

"Don't call me super midget!" Ed vented, a vein bulging in his forehead again. Mia stuck her tongue out at the alchemist. "Damn it! She's been doing this ever since you left the group!" Mia shrugged.

"The people at the orphanage told us to always tell the truth about everyone and that's what I'm doing." Yet another vein started to bulge in Ed's head at the insinuation of his diminutive stature, which was totally true but that didn't mean you told him he was small. "Anyways," said Mia, now bored of the topic of Ed's height, "why didn't you tell me about the journey?"

"Because of this." Claudio said quickly, trying his hardest not to sound mean. "You would want to come along and this is dangerous. I'm not talking about clearing Heartless from the countryside dangerous, I mean dealing with Organization XIII dangerous. Remember the Immortals?" She nodded. "We're fighting them, and they're stronger than the Organization, we've only been able to seriously injure one in combat, do you want to be in that much danger?"

"No," she admitted sullenly, biting her lip and staring at the ground.

"Plus, how's you sword skills coming along?" She diverted herself from his gaze.

"I go with Celes and the others with missions when I can, but…" she didn't say the rest of her sentence. "But my magic is really coming along, I can already cast time magic." Claudio didn't look convinced. "I'm really working Claudio! And…" she averted his gaze again, staring at the ground and blushing, "I just want to be around you again."

Claudio's face softened and he looked over to Rain who nodded. "Listen Mia," Rain began, bending slightly to get to Mia's level. "We all love you but our job is too dangerous right now. But I, and Claudio, we promise that when this is all done. When we pass out the Keyblades, we'll come back and finally adopt you."

"Really?" A light began to shine in Rain's eyes.

"Yep, really." Rain replied with a smile. "We'll adopt you and we'll get a place either here or on Twilight Town or the Radiant Garden or maybe the Destiny Islands, that's Sora and Riku's home world. What do you say?"

Mia jumped for joy and squealed loudly. "Oh, Claudio!" She exclaimed, running right by Rain, the person who proposed said adoption, and locked Claudio in a tight hug. "Thank you so much!" She began showering him with praise, ignoring Rain, as she rolled her eyes and Claudio stammered in protest.

"Claudio," Kairi said in a small voice, breaking the love fest with Mia and Claudio. "Could I talk to you for a second? Alone?" The warrior wrested himself from the teenager and walked to his ward, leaving Mia sullen and pouting.

The two walked behind an alley, out of earshot and sight of the rest of the group. "Claudio," Kairi began, a little sadness in her voice. "Why didn't you tell me about Mia and where she came from?"

Claudio took a look that was part sternness, part resignation, part sullenness and part forlorn. "So, she told you." Kairi nodded and Claudio's eyes flashed with memory. Mia was born on the Radiant Garden and was born the youngest of three children to one of the noble families of the Garden. House Corbayne was a middle power House that had a long line descending back to when they contended with House Ralleone, Kairi's family, for the throne to the Garden. Mia's father was one of Kairi's father's most trustworthy advisors and her uncle served as a Radiant Guardian, knights sworn to defend the king as his personal bodyguards, for King Areo as well. She was only three-years-old when The Fall happened. Her mother, father and eldest brother died that day, leaving her and her twelve-year old brother, who died soon after when they arrived at Traverse Town.

"Did she tell you everything?" Claudio asked in a wooden voice. Kairi nodded in response. "Her family, their history, The Fall, everything?" She nodded again and Claudio pursed his lips together. "Of all the worlds I have travelled to, she is the only member of the nobility I have found, excluding you of course Princess." Once again, she cringed at the 'P' word. "I wonder if any others are actually alive."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" She asked in a bewildered voice. "About people who had survived The Fall? What if they still look to me as a Queen? What am I going to do?"

"You lead them." He told her bluntly. "I told you that you couldn't choose whether to rule or not, it was in your blood. There are others that survived The Fall too. Everyone on the Garden, and various others scattered here or on other worlds." He closed his eyes in contemplation. "They will make you Queen."

Kairi sighed and looked down at the cobblestones, sadness entering her eyes. She looked up to the man that was once her protector and, in a resigned tone, asked him. "What happened during The Fall? I can't remember."

"Not surprising. You weren't on the Garden when The Fall happened." She shot him a curious look. "Seven months prior to The Fall, your mother and father left the throne and let the ruling to a loose government headed by Ansem the Wise, and later Xehanort under the guise of Ansem. Three months after that, your brother died under mysterious circumstances, and we all know what happened to him. Suspecting something amiss, 'Ansem' AKA Xehanort, stole you off into the middle of the night to protect you. Little did we know that it was simply to use your status as a Princess of Heart to attract the Keyblade Master and use them in his, and later his Heartless and Nobody's, machinations. The Fall happened after you left."

"But The Fall, it was because of me, right? Maleficent attacked because she wanted the Keyhole and the Ansem Reports and me, a Princess of Heart. Right?"

Claudio sighed sadly. "Yes." He admitted. "Yes, you were the primary reason that Maleficent attacked. Because she thought you still resided on the world, she attacked and caused the death of thousands of people, destroyed your kingdom and scattered the remaining survivors into hiding, initiating her decade of darkness." A single tear fell from Kairi's eye.

"So it was my fault." Her voice was pained and small, totally depressed. "I caused all that pain." Claudio forcibly grabbed her by the arms and looked into her sad eyes with his own fierce ones.

"Don't say that!" He chided, first time had used that tone on Kairi. "How can it be your fault if you weren't there?"

"But, it happened because Maleficent wanted me. And again when our Islands were attacked and when the Organization kidnapped me." More tears began to fall down her eyes, her beautiful, pristine blue eyes. "All I have ever brought is pain and suffering and death to those I care about. All because I'm a stupid Princess!" Claudio stayed silent for a few second but blurted out his next statement, bluntly again.

"Then do something about it."

"What?" She asked in confusion.

"You're tired of being used to hurt Sora, then fight that role. You have a false darkness in you; it threatens to use you again. Fight it, fight along Sora and make all that happened in the past not matter. All that pain done to him and the Garden, you can change it. Princess." This time, she didn't cringe.

"Thank you Claudio," she said softly, tears finally drying. "I can see why my father respected you when you were his bodyguard."

"I hope to serve you like I did your father. One day."

"Claudio! Kairi!" Sora called from out of the alley's mouth. "We've got problems! Hurry!"

Claudio looked to his Princess who nodded fiercely and they charged outward into the streets.

Fell Souls and Nobodies swarmed their allies, old and new varieties. A new Fell Soul was amongst them, ellipsoid fish with a thin sabre rising from their nose. A massive serrated and saw-like dorsal fin rose from its back and extended to its head. They were a mix of faded blue, green and metallic grey. They both floated in the air and phased through the ground like they were swimming through air and earth. These were Cutlasses.

The Nobody was short and skinny at the lower body, stout at the shoulders. They had wide shoulders, with a rounded triangular head merged into the shoulders, a half ring of spikes rose from the pale white body. They wore white and faded purple cloaks that descended from their shoulders to their feet, covering their stick bodies. They had no visible arms but carried an off-shield, hovering them in front of them. These were the Chemist Nobodies.

The warriors took their weapons out, Al using his fist while Mia drew a staff with an axe-like head. They looked to the small group of Nobodies and Fell Souls, including the Chemists and Cutlasses; there were Snipers, Dusks, Creepers and Blue Mages and Savants, Harpies and Enigmas. The warriors charged in and battled the foes with there usual zeal. Sora soon noticed a golden clock-like array appear above him. The hands went clockwise in a fast pattern and soon he felt a rush of energy surge through him. He dashed around the battlefield with heightened speed, cutting down Fell Souls and Nobodies alike.

"Um…Sora?" Kairi asked, breaking from her fight with a group of Dusks. "Sora!" She called a second time and he stopped in response, never ceasing tapping his foot. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" He said quickly, dashing up to her with superhuman speed. "I feel alive. Never better. Super fast! Zoom, zoom!" He began to run up and down the streets with his super speed and stopped in front of Kairi, his eye twitching nervously. "See! See?"

"Mia, no offence meant to you but I think your Haste spell needs some work!" Claudio commented to the caster on the now neurotic Keyblader.

"As if the kid wasn't hyper enough!" Riku said as Sora rushed to him. Riku stuck his arm out and the super speeding Sora ran right into it, clothes-lining himself.

"Damn," he groaned, rubbing the back of his head. "Talk about a head rush."

Sora and Riku rejoined the battle, the Cutlass Fell Souls 'swimming' through the ground and the Chemists hiding behind their shields making the two near invulnerable. The Cutlasses were fast and swift, the Chemists staying away and throwing bombs of Nothingness energy out at the party. Magic and physical strikes did nothing to the Chemists but Rain's teleportation was the ultimate weapon. She appeared behind each one in short succession and ended their non-life with a swift stab. Sora, Mia and Claudio demonstrated their Earth magic spells and threw the Fell Souls out of the ground for Riku, Ed and Kairi to eliminate with a barrage of darkness, alchemical fire and light bursts.

Through the battle, Claudio took note of some things. First, Kairi's use of light had increased quite a bit, definitely the smart move by Claudio to teach her how to use it. Likewise, Riku seemed more comfortable with his darkness powers and Ed was using his improved alchemy from his Keyblade to great effect. Sora, despite his mastery of magic, was still keeping with Fire, Blizzard and Thunder style while Kairi, while still using the basic types Sora taught her, was leaning towards Aero, Earth and Water magic. They definitely had been developing their skills.

"Nobodies and Fell Souls." Riku stated the obvious after the battle, grimacing as he said it. "We all know what this means."

"An Immortal." Sora answered back.

"Well, if that Aeron guy was the strongest of their bunch then we can beat whoever they send us." Ed said with a laidback attitude.

"Don't under estimate the Immortals Ed." Claudio cautioned the alchemist turned Keyblader. "But what I don't get is why attack at such a random time, and with such a small force?"

"Maybe they didn't expect us?" Al offered. Rain only shook her head.

"The Immortals have an understanding of goings on." She replied, nullifying Al's question. "They attack methodically and with a reason, everything they do has a reason."

A new voice called out to the group. "Yes, that is all right." The voice belonged to a woman. "You must have studied the earlier encounters with us."

Another voice echoed the woman. "Why the hell are you complementing them?" This one was a man, full of arrogance and a cocksure anger. "There the enemy! We don't pat them on the frickin' back! No! We shoot them full of bullets at every God damn pissin' opportunity we get!" He cackled evilly. "Ain't that right sis?"

"Shut up you simpering fool." The woman replied coldly. "Every time we go on a mission you scream and rant about this pointless crap and it rots my brain. For once could you just shut up and do your work for once you moron."

"Who's there?" Sora asked with his typical anger to unknown voices. "Show yourselves. Now!"

Two ripples appeared above the clock tower and stepping from them were the two speakers. The first was the woman who wore a white hooded vest, trimmed with black and with the split heart of the Immortals on its back and under that a black halter-top. She also wore jeans with a studded leather belt and high heel boots, she had several bangles and bracelets on her arm with dark skin, yellow eyes and straight, limp black hair. The man wore a white full body-jogging suit with black stripes running down it. He had white gloves and black boots and a white skullcap that was branded with the split heart. He also had dark skin, yellow eyes and straight, limp black hair although his eyes flashed time to time with insanity and he had tiny fangs protruding from his grinning mouth. Several rings and studs hanged from his lip and ears

"Hello Keyblade Masters." The woman was cordial despite being a villain but her voice was flat and emotionless. "Allow me to introduces ourselves, I am the Seventh Ranked Immortal, Vaniele Trinity." She gestured to the man next to her. "And this is the Ninth Ranked Immortal and, unfortunately, my brother, Josef Trinity." Josef grinned madly at the group bellow him. He placed his foot on the top of the roof of the tower, showing just how lanky he was.

"That's right and now that we've arrived you're all friggin' screwed up the friggin' ass!" His own statement must have amused Josef as he began to cackle madly.

"Why did you send your grunts if you're here?" Riku asked. "Why didn't you just fight us in the first place?"

"They were a distraction." Vaniele said bluntly. "We know your companions can sense Heartless, Nobodies and Fell Souls so we sent these to dull you senses so you wouldn't notice the troops we used to harvest hearts."

"Harvest…hearts?" Sora repeated with wide eyes.

"Yes," confirmed Vaniele. "Hearts for our cause. Hearts to summon The End."

"Who did you hurt?" Mia demanded. The plea fell upon deaf ears, as they look uninterested in the girl. "I asked you a question." She repeated, terser than before. "Who did you hurt?" The two looked down on Mia

"Jeez, she has a fire in her." Josef commented, madness glistening in his beady little eyes. "Vaniele, you mind if take her behind the alley before we rip her little heart out? The little bitch looks like she could benefit from a nice ass raping!"

"And let you get carried away?" Vaniele replied in a bored voice. "I think not." The insane grin on Josef's face faded. "We need her heart and I won't have you killing her."

"What do you mean by that?" Rain asked the assailants. "Why do you need her heart?"

"Her heart is full of a brilliant fire. For what, I cannot say but it is strong and as such shall be harvested." Vaniele reached into her pockets and drew two bowie knives. She twirled them around deftly and levelled them at Mia. Josef cackled insanely again.

"Oh boy this is going to be fun!" Two riffs opened near his outstretched hands and two rifles appeared from thin air. "You guys must have pissed off some cosmic asshole to have to face the Trinity Siblings." He aimed at the party. "No prepare to be anally fu-" A bullet ripped through the air and tore through one of Josef's lip rings and his upper rip. He looked at the wound, spitting blood and looked at Claudio, holding the smoking Low Cut.

"I remember this one." Claudio said, looking at the wound that cut off the vile word he was about to say in presence of woman and children. "He's the one who swears." Josef growled and sneered in frustration, aiming at the group and letting fire with a torrent of bullets. Everyone moved out of the way to dodge the attack, Claudio grabbing Mia and Rain grabbing Kairi to get out of the line of fire. "He's also the trigger-happy one." Claudio drawled flatly. "How I hate him."

"Shut up and prepare to die asshole!" The male Immortal screeched, jumping from his perch and twirling in the air, shooting as he went. Vaniele sighed from her position.

"Must it always be this way, little brother?" Vaniele shrugged off her vest to reveal two metal wings protruding from her back. They unfolded with a grand flourish and _whoosh_ and blue circuitry lining began to glow on her dark skin. She jumped into the air and swooped down on the scattered heroes, swinging her large bowie knives. Claudio and Ed regrouped and fired off a Sword Pressure Art and Ed used his wind friction alchemical lightning. As the blade beam and electric current darted to Vaniele she stuck out her knives and drew the energy into her body. The lining shone all the brighter and she fired back a series of energy crescents from her knives.

Ed and Claudio saw this and dove in all directions to dodge the attacks. "Damn it." Ed cursed, clambering from the ground to avoid another knife swipe. "I guess she can absorb energy attacks." She dove from the air and darted at Ed with several jabs from her blades. "And these wings don't make things easier." He clapped his hands together and placed them on the ground to create a stone pillar, smacking into Vaniele's chest and knocking her into the air.

Claudio charged at Josef and swung at him with High Streak. Josef blocked it with a rifle and then danced away, always keeping at a distant. Whenever anyone got to close to him, he leapt away. Whenever he ran out of ammo, he would toss his gun away and summon another from one of his riffs. Claudio tried his Demon Ammunition and Seeker Shot but Josef evaded the barrage of bullets and took the seeking shot but seemed unfazed by it.

Mia came from the left and created a dragon of fire to engulf the Immortal. He imbibed the attack and tangoed out of it. Another riff was created and Josef was now holding a massive gattling gun attached to an ammunition barrel on his back. "Blood Raven Vulcan!" He unleashed a massive torrent of gunfire from the cannon and Mia and Claudio began to strafe wildly from the attack, Sora and Kairi soon joining them. Ed saw the trouble and transmutated a wall from the cobblestones to provide cover. As the gunfire rained on the wall, Sora, Kairi and Mia all raised there Keyblades into the air and unleashed a barrage of fireballs. Acting like mortar shots, they arced over the wall and hit Josef from his position. When one crashed down in a hellish blaze, the lanky Immortal darted away, discarding his massive gattling gun.

The four ran out from behind the wall and Josef was waiting for them, two colt pistols now in his hands. He repeatedly rained bullets on them, reloading from the riffs when he ran low on ammo. The constant barrage of bullets was ridiculous in its merits as they had to duck and dive and weave without end and unable to launch a long attack. Josef had an endless supply of guns and ammo in his dimensional riffs

The other weren't fairing much better against the airborne Vaniele. Rain had to teleport behind the other woman and tried to deal and aerial combo. Vaniele was hit by a glancing blow and was knocked to the ground, she countered with an energy bolt from her left knife. Rain brought her sword up at the last second to block the bolt and was sent flying away. Riku, Al and Ed were cornering the Immortal but she smirked. Orange energy crackled at her fingertips.

"Plasmid Whiplash!" The energy formed into an orange whip. She swung it around, snapping at the heroes of light. She eventually got Ed around the ankle and began to use him like a flail, swinging him around at Al and Riku. Ed got tossed over into a nearby building as Vaniele charged the now up Rain. She was barely able to block the energy empowered knife strikes with her Shield of the Scarlet Queen. The red barrier was shattered on impact by the strikes and Vaniele flipped away, charging her blades.

"Hayabusa Arrow!" An arrowhead shaped energy blast fired from her bowie knives. The attack was blocked by a wall created by Al, managing to scrawl a crude transmutation circle onto the stones using a lose hunk of stone. As the dust from the wall settled, Al made another circle, sending a barrage of stone spires to Vaniele. She flipped away again but didn't see Ed to her side. Ed had shattered the glass of a lantern that lit up the Second District and had pressed his Keyblade up against it, Fullmetal Fury created a red alchemy array near the flames and the tiny light turned into a massive torrent of fire that engulfed the female Immortal unawares.

Following the burning conflagration, she crashed to the ground and cursed the alchemist. She didn't pay attention, though, to Rain who had used a Spirit Bomb against her. The energy orb hit the ground in front of Vaniele and blew up, sending a cloud of dust to blind her. While lacking vision, Al charged up and hit her with several blows, his strength equally a seven-foot-tall man. Vaniele was knocked away yet again and her fury grew. She failed to notice Riku who blasted her with the flat of his Keyblade and sent her into the wall.

"Dark Barrage!" He unleashed a series of dark energy orbs from his blade to Vaniele. Ed winced, expecting the attack to be absorbed like the other energy strikes but instead it hit her full on. "Darkness Wave!" A crushing shockwave of darkness spread out from Riku's position, covering Vaniele in the dark energy. As she recovered from the barrage, Riku charged in and hit a series of sword swipes against her, sending the Immortal into the air again, cursing and breathing heavily.

While the others had proven they could bead Vaniele, a stalemate had been reached with Josef. The battle area had been riddled with bullet holes and Mia, Claudio, Kairi and Sora stood on one side, Josef smirking cockily on the other.

"Damn it!" Claudio swore aloud. "How are we going to beat this guy?" Claudio had his regeneration factor to heal any stray bullets but his allies all had minor wounds on them. Alternatively, Josef had very few wounds, being able to dance away from any offence launched against him and only being hit once or twice.

Josef cackled again, that annoying laugh that by now was driving everyone mad. "You think you can beat me? Let me tell you right now: you can't!" His maddening laugh ringed through the air again. "Let me tell you something though: you know the people whose hearts I took? They thought they could beat me but they couldn't! They're all dead!" He laughed again, dead and angry eyes looking at him while he amused himself with his own comments. "You know who I killed, you want to know? I found an orphanage that had some guards near it. I killed those suckers so fast, they couldn't even piss themselves or contemplate suicide!" Mia and Claudio looked on with wide eyes. "And then those whiny orphans. 'Please, oh please don't kill me'!" He spat blood from the wound Claudio caused earlier while mocking them. "God I just had to kill them with all that bitching! What's wrong Punky Brewster, you gonna cry?"

Tears were actually welling up in Mia's eyes but they were tears of anger and pain. Josef had just described an attack on an orphanage. _Her_ orphanage. Most likely all of her friends were dead and gone thanks to him. She bit hard on her lip and shot a look at the Immortal that could curdle blood. "You son of a bitch!" She spat at the dark skinned man. "You killed them! You killed them all! My family, the only one I knew. I…I hate you!" She gripped her axe/staff and charged forth, planning to kill him or die trying. And she had all the right to; she couldn't remember her real family so the adults and kids at the orphanage was all she knew. Some were jerks but others were good people who always kept an eye on you. Now, they were gone and she was alone again. She felt the pain and formed it into a blade aimed at the heart of the killer.

Mia had reached the younger Trinity Sibling and swung with her staff in a wide arc. Josef never flinched; he just caught it with one hand. Taking one of his Colts, he pistol-whipped the young girl across the plaza. She cried in pain but was caught by Josef who kicked her to the ground and then shot her with his last Colt bullet. It hit the arm and a horrifying scream rang through the sky, Claudio cringing at the sound. Josef then summoned a rifle and aimed for the back of the downed girl….

_BANG!!_

Claudio moved lightning-fast in between Josef and Mia, taking the bullet in his back. A tiny red eye fluttered open on his back, staining his steely blue coat. Claudio turned around and with a simple rev of his blade, created an energy torrent that knocked Josef twenty-feet back. Claudio bent down and picked up Mia, blood dripping down her cheek and arm. "You okay kiddo?" He asked softly, almost a whisper, heavy with emotion.

"Claudio…" she moaned weakly. "Do you…do you…"

"I don't think you're weak." He answered, getting the question wrong. "But don't talk, you'll be safe. Just remember that I care about you." She smiled weakly at the older man carrying her. "Rain!" She teleported beside her husband as soon as her name left his mouth, "I need you to get her to the hospital quickly." She nodded wordlessly, picking up the injured girl and then warped away.

"Hey, ass face!" Josef yelled angrily at Claudio. "Did you forget about me?" He jumped backwards and summoned his gattling gun. "Blood Raven Vulcan!" Before he could press the trigger, Claudio dashed and punched him in the nose, sending him away, stumbling and cursing.

"Ed!" Claudio roared to the alchemist. "Transmute me a tower shield!"

"What?"

"Just do it!" He reinforced and Ed did as he was bid, creating a four-foot rectangular shield branded with the question mark-cross symbol that Ed had on the back of his coat. Josef unleashed his stream of gunfire at Kairi but Claudio stepped in front of it and took all the blasts, the bullets bouncing off the steel wall in front of him.

"Prism Chain Arts, Firaga Style: Fire Raid!" High Streak was engulfed in a crimson blaze and Claudio threw the six-foot blade at the enemy, the massive sword moving like a boomerang. The spinning, burning brand cut through the tube that connected the cannon to the ammo reserve barrel and catching Josef in an explosion. He tossed the shield to Kairi and jumped into the air, following Josef. He snatched his still burning sword from the air and swung in wide arcs at the retreating Immortal. He dodged one shot and then kicked Claudio in the head multiple times. Josef jumped back and summoned a submachine gun. He fired at Claudio but Kairi skated in front of him, blocking the attack with her new shield.

"Photo Darts!" She moved Oathkeeper through the air in a semicircle, creating several beads of light that fired at Josef, piercing him with several daggers of light.

"Nice one Kairi!" Sora complemented, stepping up after being left out of the action. He gripped the charm that Claudio found on Amestris and concentrated on the being and calling it to this plane.

"SNAKE!"

A helicopter floated over the town and a rope ladder descended from the chopper. Falling out of it was a man wearing grey and black camouflage and body armour. He had short brown hair, a short-cropped beard and a headband. A belt was around his waist with several firearms in it. He looked around the environment for a second, getting a feel for his allies and area. Solid Snake reached for a mike attached to his camouflage.

"Otacon." He said, contacting his contact. "I'm standing next to a kid with big feet who's using a key as a sword.

"_Yes, Snake,"_ Otacon replied. _"That's Sora, the main character of this story."_

"You mean I'm playing second fiddle again?" Snake sighed loudly. "This is Sons of Liberty all over again." His eyes then fell on Josef. "You!"

The Immortal pointed at himself. "Me?" He flipped back while Snake drew a pistol from his belt and fired at him.

"Sora," Snake ushered the summoner over to him. "That's the man who destroyed my world. Let's take him down." Sora nodded as Snake unclipped several grenades, tossing them into the air as Sora batted them away with his Keyblade. They bounced near Josef and blew up, Josef barely dodging the explosions.

The Immortal growled and fired his submachine guns. Sora and Snake rolled in opposite directions, Snake into an alley. He jumped out, holding a cardboard box. He called Sora into it and they hid inside the box in plain sight. Josef laughed until Snake propped the box up and threw out a pornographic magazine. The Immortal leered at it with lecherous eyes and snatched it up, looking at the picture lustfully. He failed to notice that the box containing Sora and Snake was tiptoeing away. When he did notice, an exclamation mark flashed over his head (A/N1) and he looked around frantically.

"Where the fu-" He was cut off again when Snake and Sora, perched on the roofs on the houses, began to fire at him with sniper rifle and Keyblade. "CAMPER!" Josef roared in frustration, firing with his guns at all random directions but hitting nothing.

"Sora, cover me." Snake called to his summoner after the sniping. He took out a black tube and pressed a button, turning it into a portable zip line. Snake rode down it; firing from a pistol while Sora flew from the sky, shooting fireballs and ice crystals at Josef. When they landed, the helicopter appeared above them again.

"Snake, use this!" Otacon called from the copter, dropping a rocket launcher into Snake's hands.

Snake grinned at the weapon in his hands. "Just like Shadow Moses." He took aim at Josef and fired to seeking rockets that hit Josef dead on, scoring direct hits. Snake then tossed the launcher to Sora who placed the Keyblade in it and together they fired the Ultima Weapon rocket at Josef, piercing him with a ray of light.

The rope ladder descended from the copter again and Snake grabbed hold of it, slowly rising into the air. "Solid Snake, over and out!"

Josef crumbled to the ground and coughed in pain, blood flowing from wounds on his chest and head. "Shit…shit…shit…" He looked up to the enemy and growled once more, another riff appearing before him. "You think you've won? Think again you bastards!" A grenade launcher with a wide barrel containing ten dark energy grenades appeared in his hand. "Nightmare Launcher Beta!" He fired two grenades that zoomed to Sora and hit the ground, exploding into dark flames. Sora, Claudio and Kairi scattered away from the attack and Josef took the higher ground again.

"Don't you think you can win you dumbasses! Don't think you can come out unscathed! I'm going to take my guns," he summoned a rifle in his free hand and used it to scatter the Keybladers some more, "and shove 'em up your asses! Nightmare Launcher Beta!"

He launched the remaining eight grenades into the air and they all streaked wide and low…to Kairi. She was paralysed by the suddenness of the attack, unable to react. Claudio couldn't move, equally as shocked as his Princess. Sora, though her moved, running to the girl he loved, even though he couldn't admit it. At the last second, he shoved her out of the way as the grenades hit the ground, engulfing the Keyblader in a torrent of dark fire.

"SORA!!" Six voices called in distress. The flames and smoke settled and Kairi ran to the figure in the smoke as Josef started cackling inanely. Sora was lying on the broken cobblestones, blood smearing everywhere on him and burns and bruises covering his body. He didn't appear to be breathing.

"No, no, no…" Kairi repeated helplessly as Sora stayed unmoving. "Please…God no…no…don't be…" she gulped down the last word, afraid to say it. "You can't Sora…you just can't…" She began to cry again, tears streaming from her eyes. She knuckled them back and concentrated her magical energy onto Sora. "Curaga!" The green light washed over Sora, seeping into his cuts and burns but he still was not moving. "No!" She wanted to scream but it came out a whimper. "No! Sora…please…you can't die…" Josef's inane chortling, the sounds of battle, all of it was drowned out. She swallowed fear and pain and pressed her head onto Sora's chest. "Sora…please don't die! For my sake! Please! Sora, I love you!" She screamed her confession of love out into the night sky, the weight of the world getting off her shoulders but it still didn't do anything for Sora. She began to weep again, knowing he would never hear that last statement. She repeated it anyway, just to feel better. Softly she said. "Sora, I love-"

She was cut off when Sora suddenly rose from the ground and seized his "opportune moment" by kissing the girl he loved. He released himself from the lip lock and smiled at the young girl in front of him. "I love you too." Both teenagers smiled widely, grasping each other in a loving embrace, never wanting the moment to end. It did though, when they heard the clicking of a gun behind Kairi's head.

"Well, wasn't that romantic." Josef sneered at the two newfound lovers, a Tommy gun in his hand. "Now die!" He never could pull on the trigger as one of Claudio's bullets impacted into his hand. Josef moved back in pain, holding his hand, now missing two fingers because of Claudio. His face contorted in rage. "Oh, you son of a god dam piece of crap whoreson motherfu-"

A bullet to the mouth once again cutting off his vile speech. "That's quite enough of that." Claudio said evilly, standing guard over the two young lovers. He then fired seven bullets, riddling Josef's body with them. "I'm pissed off."

In pain, both Trinity Siblings retreated, Josef riddled with bullet holes and covered in burns, Vaniele was covered in slashes and one of her wings was partially burnt off.

"Damn it…" Vaniele breathed heavily, aware of the injuries both sides had suffered. "We've lost." A flash of rage was visible in the siblings yellow eyes.

"You're right, we got our asses handed to us." Josef agreed, smiling in his cocksure manner. "But next time, the other ass will be handed to them." He cackled once more for good measure and both brother and sister vanished into thin air.

"Anyone too badly hurt?" Ed asked after the battle finally was officially over. No one said a word as they looked over Kairi and Sora, now boyfriend and girlfriend.

"So," Claudio said in a casual voice. "You finally found the right moment to scoop her up, eh champ?" He knuckled Sora in the shoulder before seizing him by his collar and shaking him like there was no tomorrow. "Hurt the Princess and I will make sure you won't live to see puberty!"

"Claudio!" Kairi said sternly. Claudio stopped threatening Sora and looked at Kairi. After one glance of her eyes, he set Sora down and patted him in the head softly. "Also, how many time do I have to tell you-"

"Don't call you Princess…" He finished for her.

"So…you two are going out now?" Riku asked, a little abashed at asking it, scratching his head in how to phrase the question. Sora and Kairi looked at each other with lovers eyes and laughed.

"I guess you can call it that." Sora answered his friends.

"Although it really isn't going out." Kairi elaborated. "More like living in with each other and saving the universe from some psychopaths while trying to have a dating life."

"Which reminds me. Where is Terra?" Rain brought forth but Sora shrugged it off.

"I don't care. As long as I have you." He leaned over and kissed Kairi on the cheek. She blushed a little but returned the favour by hugging him.

"Leave her be." A cold, menacing, rasping voice called out.

"Who's there?" Al asked. He and Ed looked around for the speaker but the others had their eyes dead set on a portal of darkness forming in the street.

"Kira." Riku explained. "Another Immortal."

From the dark portal, stepped said Immortal, still wearing his dark armour and the black and white mask and still holding the rectangular bastard sword and holding the black kite shield.

"I said to step back from the Princess." Kira stressed, invisible eyes locked onto the injured Sora. "Now!"

"What's it to you?" Sora asked harshly, Keyblade drawn again. When he took his stance he felt his wounds flare up despite Kairi's magic.

"I do not need to explain myself to common trash like you." Kira gathered an orb of darkness in his hands, pitch-black electricity crackling around the purple and black sphere. "Ebony Torrent!" A wall of darkness and electricity short forth from Kira's outstretched hands and flowed over to the heroes, threatening to engulf them in the darkness.

Kairi reacted quickly, creating a golden aura of light to shield them from the dark wave. The darkness met the light and for a second, the shield faltered, but only for a second. The two sources of energy cancelled each other out. The massive attack seemed to take nothing out of Kira while Kairi had fallen to her knees, panting from exhaustion for the effort need to create it.

"Move from her scum!" Kira warned again, pointing his sword at the group. "If you do, then I will be lenient in your death. If not…" His sword sizzled and erupted with a dark flame, purple trails and a black core.

"Your not getting Kairi, you creep!" Sora rushed forth from his position but Kira did nothing. Instead his shadow, which was cast ahead of him due to the moon, leapt off the ground, turning into a claw. It seized Sora by the throat and effortlessly and lifted him off the ground, Keyblade clattering to the floor. His face turned blue as the air was cut off from his body.

"I shall," he said menacingly, looking at Sora with absolute content. "Because we are family. Our blood shall bond us forever. I will take her, because she is my sister!"

"What?" Sora croaked out from the claw wrapped around his throat.

Kira said nothing; instead he lifted his hand to his face and took off his mask. He let it fall to the floor and then stepped on it, the mask exploding into shards of black and white. He lifted his face to reveal the resemblance to Kairi. His facial structure was the same as her, he had the same hair, just cut so it was cropped around his jaw and he had the same crystalline blue eyes. Except where Kairi's were full of radiance and light, Kira's were empty, dead, bored, and full of hate and contempt for all things.

"Kairi…" Ed began in disbelief, the similarities so startling. "Is this true? Is this guy your brother?"

Kairi nodded weakly, unable to respond any other way.

"Yes, so you know the truth." Kira said, his shadow's claw still gripping Sora as he struggled helplessly. "I was once Kross Argas Ralleone, Crown Prince of the Radiant Garden. And I am here now to take my birth right…my kingdom…my throne. And it all starts by taking my sister!" The claw began to squeeze tighter and Sora yelped in pain as his life was beginning to end for the second time in ten minutes. As his eyes began to close, he saw a metallic flash and the claw was severed in two by Riku's blade.

"Dark Barrage!" Several darkness bolts flew from Riku's area and zoomed to Kira. He simply stood there and let the darkness hit him. The bolts had no effect. Riku gnashed his teeth and charged into direct combat. Kira turned his shadow into a claw again but Riku weaved around the first lunge and tore it to shreds again. He clashed blades with Kira who promptly blocked the strike with his own and the next strike and the next. Riku tried a running lunge but Kira brought his shield forth and caught the blade. Pushing back, he causing Riku to stumble and suddenly feel a sharp pain in his gut. He looked down to see a shadow claw extending from Kira's body into his gut. The claw forced Riku into the air and he landed in a heap next to Sora and Kairi, forced to cough up blood.

"Damn it." Claudio muttered. "Three down already. Not good." He glowered at the situation they were in. They had just fought two Immortals and were now fighting the second strongest Immortal who had already beaten three of their fighters. "Ed, Al, Rain. Stay with these three. I'll fight Kira."

"What?" Ed said in protest and surprise. "Are you kidding me? This guy just beat three of our best fighters in only a few minutes. What chance do you have?"

"Ed. Shut up." Claudio revved High Streak, the blade crackling with golden and red energy.

Kira reared his blade back. "Shadow Scorpion!" He swung his sword in a wide arc and a disc of darkness flew from the blade. Claudio unleashed his Sword Pressure and cancelled the discus out. He dashed forth and clashed his blade with bastard sword and kite shield.

The force of his immediate charge caused Kira to retreat as the two dealt with each other in a display of masterful sword skills, red and black sparks flashing and flying at each hit. Kira had his blade engulfed in a black fire to counter Claudio's energy current on his blade. They danced in this dance of death in a continuous circle with metallic rings echoing through the now abandoned town plaza.

"Pillar of the Abyss!" Kira slammed his sword into the ground and a series of pillars made of dark energy exploded from the ground. Claudio dodged each pillar in a blur of black and pale blue. Claudio strafed around and tried to get Kira from the back but he made a 90-degree turn and threw off the attack with his shield. "Chord of Chaos!" A spiral of dark energy spun out from his outstretched blade, the dark ropes tied around Claudio and began to burn past his clothes and onto his skin. Claudio unleashed a torrent of energy and cancelled the dark chord, forcing it to dissipate.

"So, we're playing that game?" Claudio revved his blade repeatedly until his sword was covered in a sheet of crimson energy. "Prism Chain Arts, Striking Style: Gale-Force Stinger!" He lunged forth with his blade and unleashed several dozen lunges within a quick span of each other. Each lunge rained against Kira's shield, scarlet sparks lighting off of it with each strike. "Prism Chain Arts, Striking Style: Hammer Blow!" With a single powerful strike, he collided his blade with the shield, a massive shockwave of energy and wind buffeting Kira and nearly ripping his shield away.

Kira jumped back to avoid being hit by one of these powerful attacks. He launched his claw from his body again which Claudio just tore to pieces and dodged the remaining tendril without any effort. He ran up to Kira and hit him with in the shield with his blade. He was locked into combat with Kira, pushing him back slightly with his powerful strike, the shield cracking under the force of the blade. As the crack advanced near the total length of the shield, Claudio felt pain shoot up his body. He looked behind him and saw that the remaining tendril had wrapped around his body and had seized him by the shoulder. Kira created a gust of dark wind that forced him backwards and then lifted Claudio into the air with his Shadow Claw. The tendril pulsed and enveloped Claudio in a cocoon of darkness, covering his entire body, only his head staying above the shadowy coffin. The claw rose from the top of the cocoon and lunged for Claudio's throat, drawing deep gouges of blood.

"Shadow Claw: Funeral of the Damned!" The cocoon compressed down onto his body and Claudio gasped in pain, his body writhing in pain as blood gushed from his mouth. The shadows subsided and Claudio fell to the ground, his body convulsing in a series of sickening, muscle-racking spasms. He began to cough blood repeatedly. Rain ran over and healed Claudio, like she had healed Sora, Riku and Kairi. The worst of Claudio's wounds healed themselves but he was still weak.

"Trash." Kira said in disgust, turning on his heel and walking away. "All of you are trash, not worth my attention." A dark portal opened and he began to walk into it.

"Prism Chain Arts, Finisher Style: Hell's Butterfly!" The red and black energy wave unleashed itself from Claudio's sword and streaked to Kira. He brought up his shield and erected a shadow barrier to absorb the blow. In a brilliant explosion of red and black energy, Kira was forced to one knee. His shield was destroyed, his dark barrier gone and part of his gauntlet cracked, blood oozing out of it. It was black.

Kira shot one last look of disgust at the group before leaving in his portal of darkness.

Claudio let out a sigh of relief and looked around at his allies. What he thought was going to be a relaxing trip to his home-away-from-home had turned into a nightmarish gauntlets of revelations and battles. Everyone in the group was exhausted in some way or another with Sora, Riku and Claudio taking the prize for biggest punching bag. The streets they had fought in was wrecked and destroyed in all manners by energy attacks and gunfire. They had come for Terra and instead found a hell of a battle. Claudio realized that his suspicions on the knight were pretty much all but confirmed. It is then that he heard clapping.

Everyone looked behind them and, standing in front of the fountain, it was Terra, out of his armour, but Terra nonetheless.

"Hello, hello!" He waved cordially at the group. Everyone looked at him with dead eyes, except for Ed and Al. "Well, that was a rather impressive display of your power. Beating three Immortals in a day, pretty impressive."

"Who the hell is this?" Ed asked.

"My name is Terra. And you must be the Fullmetal Alchemist and new Keyblade Master, Edward Elric." Terra said to…Alphonse. He shook the hand of the suit of armour while Ed's temper began to boil.

"No that would be me!" Ed leapt up, shaking his fists wildly.

Terra looked at the Elric Brothers in confusion. "Wait. Aren't you Alphonse? But, if you're the older brother…why would the Keyblade pick such a shrimp?"

"SHRIMP!! WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN INSIGNIFICANT SPECK OF DUST THAT'S TOTALLY INVISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE!?" Ed took a swing at Terra but he ducked it nonchalantly.

"My apologies to you and your brother Edward." Claudio stood up to look Terra in the eye, despite the pain flaring through his body due to Kira.

"Why are you here?" He asked bluntly.

"To split you guys up of course."

"Then why didn't you arrive sooner?" Asked Riku bitterly.

"Traffic was murder." Terra stated. "Don't go near the Olympus Coliseum this time of night if you have important errands to run." Everyone looked at him with the same dead eyes, annoyed by his sudden appearance. Terra coughed into his fist. "Well, then. New teams. Sora, Kairi, Claudio and Rain, you are still aboard the _Avenger Mk. II_ to my right." A golden portal opened on his right side. "And Ed, Al and Riku, you get the _Hunter_ on my left." An identical portal appeared on his left side. "I trust you all have split up the Keychains evenly? Okay? Good." A third portal opened and Terra began to walk away.

"Hold on!" Sora said, stopping the knight. "Why did you just appear all of a sudden? Why are you leaving so soon."

The knight shrugged. "No reason. Oh, did you figure out that riddle I told you earlier. How an Immortal is complete yet is still missing something?" No one said anything. "A shame. Good luck and good travels." He snapped and Keychains in Sora and Riku's pockets rose up into the sky and shot light into the sky, leading to new paths. After this happened, Terra had left without a trace.

"So, I guess this is it." Sora said sadly, his body still aching from the battle with Kira and Josef.

"Yeah. The split up." Kairi voiced, equally sad and sore.

"Hey, why all glum all of a sudden?" Riku asked, biting through the pain. "It's not like we're going to not know where the other are or won't be in contact with each other. In a few months, all of this will be done and we can unite and go home."

"I guess you're right." Sora agreed reluctantly.

"Yeah, and I think the groups turned out pretty good too!" Ed broke in.

"Sora and Kairi get to stay together." Al continued for his brother. "And so do Claudio and Rain and me and brother."

Ed nodded confidently. "So we just have to stay alive an kick some Immortal ass!"

"So farewell," Riku said, "but only for now. You two kids play nice now, you here?" Sora and Kairi looked at each other and smiled.

"We promise to." Sora said.

"If you promise to stay out of trouble." Kairi stated and Riku blushed a little.

"Don't worry Kairi, we'll keep him in line." Ed piped in. Everyone nodded to each other and left, Sora and Kairi to the right, Ed, Al and Riku to the right. Claudio and Rain had stayed silent the entire time and still were. They lingered for a few moments, just staring at the golden portal for a brief second. Rain turned to her husband, kissed him on the cheek and strut off into the port. Claudio lingered on a little longer, thinking of the encounter he just had with Terra, thinking his suspicions of the knight were nearly proven to be true.

"I'm not buying your act for a second." He thought aloud, walking to the portal. He was stopped by another voice, Terra's voice.

"I can say the same thing about you. You and Rain."

**To Be Continued**

_Wow! That was a ridiculous pain to write! I'm glad I wrote this all in one part instead of chopping it up into multiple chapters. I do not like Josef and Vaniele as much as Creed or Kaiser or Aeron, they are kind of generic but Josef is rather fun to write in dialogue. I based him off of the character Jan Valentine from Hellsing. If you ever want to see him in action then watch the Hellsing OVA 2. Jan is a beast in it!_

_In my mind, Josef would be perfect being voiced by Josh Phillips (the VA for Jan Valentine) and Liam O'Brien would be a perfect VA for Kira. Mr. O'Brien is a very prolific VA but the performance I think he should mimic for Kira would be his performance of Gaara from Naruto._

_Also, the voice talking to Maleficent says "Goodbye you ugly witch" in Spanish._

_(A/N1): Accompanied by the familiar sound effect from MGS_

Journal Set #6

Chemist

Lithe Nobodies with large shields designed to block attacks. They fight by throwing orbs and bombs made of pure energy at there foes but aren't powerful in close quarters. Vexen once controlled these Nobodies.

Cutlass

Fell Souls created from the souls of aquatic creatures; they can fight on land, air and water. Cutlasses have the innate ability to phase through physical objects, essentially "swimming" through land. They are armed to the teeth with razor sharp blades surround there bodies.

Vaniele Trinity

The Seventh-Ranked Immortal, Vaniele is one half of the Trinity Siblings and often acts as the cool and calm one to her brash younger brother, Josef. Vaniele appeared on Traverse Town, orchestrating and attack on orphan children in order to harvest hearts. To what end? No one really knows. Vaniele has wings and circuitry lining built into her, giving her the power of flight and energy absorption. In battle, she can manipulate energy particles and wields two bowie knives.

Josef Trinity

The Ninth-Ranked Immortal, Josef is one half of the Trinity Siblings and often acts as the loud and arrogant one to his calmer older sister, Vaniele. Josef appeared on Traverse Town, orchestrating and attack on orphan children in order to harvest hearts. To what end? No one really knows. Josef can create dimensional riff portals into pocket dimensions. In these he stores a near endless amount of ammunition and firearms.

Kira

The Second-Ranked Immortal, Kira was once Kross, Kairi's brother but an event turned him into the Immortal Kira. He first appeared on the Destiny Islands, threatening them with Kaiser and Aeron. Later, he injected darkness into Kairi's heart for a secret purpose. Kira seems to have an obsession with taking his "birth right" and an obsession involving his sister. Kira wields a bastard sword and has complete and utter mastery of darkness, unparallel in his skills even by Xehanort and his brood.

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	17. The Dawn

_Right, so new chapter up, don't expect a new chapter next week because I will be leaving for a trip. Also, I was working on chapter 18 (based off of Pirates of the Caribbean) and I found it such a chore to write because it was heavily copied from the movie. Also, Dead Man's Chest would work a lot better in the sequel for GOD and as such I have decided to cut Pirates out of Genesis of Destiny for those reasons. Don't hate me, its just the way it has to be. I'm sorry_

_Disclaimer: I do not and do not pretend to own anything related or associated with Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Disney, Square Enix, Fullmetal Alchemist and any other series that get cameos. I do own my original characters and the plot but that is it. Also, if you do read GOD would it be too much to ask if you could spend five minutes writing a review? That'd be real nice._

Chapter 17: The Dawn

Deep Jungle. Not visited by anyone until Sora's first adventure. That is, until now.

The Blank Keychain had set the path for Riku, Ed and Al into the Deep Jungle and by the time they reached the orbit around the planet, the junker of a ship that they received from Terra showed what a pile of crap it was and spiralled out of control onto the planet, dumping Al, Ed and Riku into a swath of vines high above in the jungle canopy while the ship plummeted to the surface of the world.

"Riku," Ed voiced irritably while hanging upside down over the jungle floor, "Did I not tell you when we first got that ship that we would crash?" Ed indeed had said that very phrase. "What did I tell you?" He repeated even more irritable.

"You said we would crash." Riku recited, equally annoyed.

Ed rolled his eyes and smirked. "Well I hate to tell you I told you so, but…"

"You know what, Ed? 'I told you so' has a brother. His name is SHUT THE HELL UP!!"

Riku began to swing back and forth from his position on the vine; all three of them had their ankles ensnared and were hanging upside down. Riku continued the aerial sit-ups, turning into a pendulum to get to the vine.

"What are you doing Riku?" Al asked, nervously looking at his vine, afraid it may snap.

"I'm swinging so I can get my vine and cut it." Riku continued to swing until he managed to grab his vine. He summoned Way to the Dawn and sliced his vine. Ed was doing the same and soon had cut his vine.

"You want help Al?" Riku asked the soul-in-armour. He nodded and Riku swung like a monkey across the vines to where Al was standing. Al snatched his vine and then Riku sawed through his vine. Al was grasping his vine when everyone heard the deafening cracking and breaking sounds.

Al's vine had snapped and he dangled in the air for a second before plummeting to the ground and hitting the jungle floor with a thunderous clang.

"Al!" Ed cried, not to his brother in particular but just in shock. The next time was to his brother. "Al! Al! Can you hear me? Al? Are you okay? Al! Come on bro, speak to me!"

"I'm okay brother." Al's childish, wavering tone floated up to the two. The Keybladers let out a sigh of relief. "Guess what? I found the Gummi Ship! It crashed right below us!"

"That's great Al." Riku congratulated. "But are you okay? Any dents?"

"Yeah Riku, I'm fine."

"Sit tight Al, we'll be down in a second!" Ed began to swing across the vines like a monkey, Riku following him. They made it to the end of the series of vines and then began to crawl down the side of a tree trunk. It was slow, exhausting work and more than a few times both the alchemist and the darkling almost fell off the tree but they made it down to the ground with Al sitting next to the Gummi Ship.

The Ship had only taken some damage, nothing too major but the fact that it was already a 'heap of scrap fit for nothing better than use as transmutation components' as Ed had put it, it looked pretty shoddy. The windshield was cracked and there was some sort of mechanical whirring going on in the interior of the hull but nothing else was really noticeable.

"Did you activate the auto-repair program?" Riku asked and Al nodded, explaining the mysterious whirring. "Good. Looks like we can just wait for something to happen."

"What do you mean 'wait'?" Ed demanded irritably, everything on this world was annoying him.

"Sora sealed the Keyhole on this world and I really don't think we should wander too far from the ship." Riku had taken off his vest and propped it up on top of the ship, using it as a backrest so he could lie down. "We'll wait until the repairs are finished and then go looking for whatever we need to look for."

"So we wait for trouble to find us?" Al asked. Riku nodded in response.

Ed rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Just like every other God damn world."

"Yeah, but what are you gonna do?" Riku asked lazily to no one in particular. Ed groaned and mumbled to himself while Al meekly tried to cheer his brother up. Riku closed his eyes and raised a hand to shield his face from the sun.

His mind drifted back to Traverse Town, when the Immortals showed up. When he fought against Vaniele and Kira he used his darkness prolifically. It did nothing to Kira, but it proved amazingly effective on Vaniele. But something was niggardly to him about his attacks on Kira. They did nothing. The dream he had spoke of his element, he had spent days trying to get a better grip on the darkness and it still did nothing for him against Kira. He had no idea what his element was and darkness seemed to be his best route but it still didn't work completely to his advantage.

And there was the matter of using the darkness. Whenever her used a dark tech he felt…dirty and unclean. It forced his subconscious to hearken back to his past and whenever the battle entered his full consciousness and he felt ashamed. His bloodstained past, his dark road, it all seemed to rise back on him in that one precise moment after the battle. Darkness wasn't the road he wanted to follow anymore but it was all he could do. If he hadn't used his darkness on Kairi back at Beast's Castle they may not have saved her, if he hadn't used it on Vaniele then they may not have won…but using it on Kira was useless, it just end up hurting his own self. He raised his hand to block the sun and clenched his fist, his hand smothering the sun in the tight ball until his knuckles turned white.

An explosion jarred him back into reality.

"What the hell was that?" Ed screamed in confusion. Some sort of firebomb had gone off near the clearing in front of them and they could see inky portals starting to form around them. Yellow eyes popped up in the darkness and the shadowy Heartless grabbed the edge of the portals and pulled their bodies through.

"Damn!" Ed swore, cutting a nearby Neo Shadow in two with Fullmetal Fury. "Just when I thought we could relax for one moment." He cut down several more Heartless and took out the back ranks with his alchemical oxygen bombs.

Al scratched an alchemy array into a tree and pressed down on it, using it to create a thick oaken quarterstaff. "Trouble really does seem to find us constantly." Al whacked away two Shadows with his transmutated staff.

Riku destroyed a swath of Heartless with a plane of dark fire, a sickening feeling rising in his stomach. "I'm beginning to think Claudio is right." He quit using his darkness and then cut down several Heartless with Way to the Dawn. "I hate it when he's right."

"You and me can agree on that!" Ed closed his eyes and three metal javelins erupted from metallic spots on the Gummi Ship, darting out and impaling several Heartless. He then thrust his Keyblade forward, a red array appearing at the tip, and gathered as much water vapour as he could. He liquefied the vapour and then unleashed it in a torrent of high-pressure water, washing away the Heartless.

Al's staff had broken so he began to rain his metallic fists down on the Heartless, who were as disinterested as ever with Al. They never targeted him, and only attacked if he attacked first. Al saw a group of Powerwilds converging on his brother so he picked up a stone and created a circle with it. Using it, he caused the earth to rise up under the Powerwilds and then forced it to fissure, crack and splinter, the monkey demons being forced to scatter from the attack.

Riku wasn't using his darkness abilities anymore, denying that sickening feeling he got. His resolution against his shadows intensified with each Heartless he cut down. The sortie of Heartless was weak and didn't seem to accomplish much but it just made him gnash his teeth more, build the steel in his soul and force himself to stand resolute against the darkness, both within and without.

The enemies went down in droves, fast and furious, majority of them weak and basic Heartless, nothing overly difficult and the skills and brains of the warriors of light proved enough to deal with them with absolutely zero difficulty. When the last of the Heartless vanished into dark smoke, they all took sighs of relief.

"I'm glad to see that most enemies we'll be facing aren't going to be like Aeron or Vaniele." Ed noted with his usual cheeky grin. Riku stared into the clearing the Heartless had marched from with cold eyes. He knew that the Heartless weren't the work of the Immortals, they would send more than just Heartless, and stronger breeds too. No, this had the stink of a different darkness all over it.

"It isn't the Immortals." Riku said abruptly. "This was the work of Maleficent."

"Who?" Ed scratched his head.

"Isn't she that dark witch you used to…work…with?" Al realized he was hitting a sore spot half way through is statement but Riku paid no mind to it.

"Yeah, she's been working against Sora since the beginning." Riku explained to the two alchemists, who were still novices at this sort of thing. "She usually collects a cabal of villains to attack us and goes after the Princesses of Heart for her own plans. We, by which I mean Sora, Kairi, Rain, Claudio and myself, have already beaten two of her members but we don't know how many more there are. But she only has control of the Heartless, so this is clearly her work."

Ed scoffed. "Well that is if you believe in witches and goblins and all that junk."

"You still denying all that stuff?" Riku eyed the alchemist oddly, sort of wishing he was still travelling with Claudio, at least he agreed on this stuff. "Even after the Heartless and Immortals?"

"I believe in that stuff but not any of the other crap Sora has claimed."

"So you believe in Heartless, Nobodies, Fell Souls and Immortals, brother?" Al asked and Ed nodded. "But not in satyrs, genies, talking lions and all that other stuff? Is that what you are saying brother?"

"Yep."

"I guess seeing is believing." Riku said easily and relaxed. He moved over to the side panel on the Gummi Ship and checked the status of it. They still had fifteen minutes until the auto-repair was finished its duty. "Looks like we have to find something to do guys, we're still stranded for fifteen more minutes." Both the Elrics sighed.

"You kiddies bored out of yer minds?" A dopey voice drawled from the opening of the clearing. From the opening, the fat cat-man Pete half-waddled, half-lumbered up to the opening they were in. The Keyblades reappeared in the hands of Ed and Riku and Al bawled his gauntleted hands into fists. "Then why don't you have good ol' Pete give ya some fun 'n excitement?"

"Who is this fat ass Riku?" Ed asked, obviously not believing stories of Pete but now believing them as he was seeing him in the blubbery flesh.

"Pete." Riku spat at the lummox before him. "An ally to Maleficent…and a total idiot."

Pete's face contorted in anger. "Who're you callin' an idiot?"

"Well considering he's facing you…" Al brought up.

"And that you're the only person we know named Pete…" Ed continued for his younger brother. "If you can't put two and two together…"

"Then you deserve the name 'idiot'." Al finished. Pete's face drooped forward, threatening to literally sluice of his skull and then twisted into anger again, but he was such a dope it really wasn't that threatening.

"I'll show you not to call people hurtful names." He snapped his fingers. "Heartless!" More Heartless were summoned forth. "Go get 'em!"

In only a few seconds, Ed had gathered water vapour into a torrential stream of water and Al created a ramp of stone, allowing Riku to get airborne and throw his Keyblade like a ferocious tornado boomerang. The steel blade and the water strike eliminated all of the Heartless Pete had summoned. By some stroke of dumb luck, Pete had avoided the two attacks and was now cowering farther down the clearing.

"Why you little punks!" Pete chattered. Ed was totally unimpressed by his first encounter with Pete.

"Not only is this guys an idiot but he's a coward too." Pete answered the taunt with a rolling black orb that landed at Ed's feet and blew up, sending the alchemist to his feet, covered in black soot.

"Now yer gonna get it shorty!" Pete pointed at the group. "Now you gotta face the almighty Pete!" Ed bounded off from the ground, veins popping, the soot being blown from his body by the anger.

"Did you just call me short?" Ed raged, Pete not knowing how to react. "If you just called me that, then so help you, I'm going to rip your dopey head off!" Ed gave a maddened battle cry and charged into battle, Pete bowled his explosive bombs to Ed but they were just batted back to Pete by Riku who came up next to Ed, Keyblade in hand. Al was right behind the two.

The bombs Pete sent blew up under his own feet and the daze fat cat stumbled around in a circle. Ed and Riku swiped at him with Keyblade slashes, Pete avoiding them do to dumb luck. Eventually the two Keybladers corralled him near Al who hammered on him with armoured fists. Pete got fed up with being treated like a pinball and created a shockwave to stun his foes. He began to rain slaps and punches on the Keybladers and then Al, but of course, Al didn't feel them do to his armour and they just ended up hurting Pete. As Pete grasped his hand in pain from trying to punch Al's chest cavity, Ed crouched behind Pete and the lummox stumbled over Ed in a classic schoolboy manoeuvre.

Riku leapt up onto Al's shoulders and then jumped off, Keyblade in hand; ready to skewer the downed Pete. Instead, the fat henchmen created a honeycombed shield dome to cause the point of the blade to clatter off the barrier. Pete stood up, gloating loudly about how he was invincible. Riku cursed and dropkicked the dome and sent Pete rolling. Ed, Al and Riku proceeded to whack the Pete-in-a-ball around the clearing with their Keyblades and fists and feet before Riku sliced opened the dome and Ed sent Pete lumbering away with a burst of alchemical lightning.

"I see you punks can play with the big boys now." Pete half-noted, half-whined from his wounds. His head was spinning after being rolled all over the place. "Luckily, I'm playing' with even bigger boys." Pete stuck to fingers to his mouth and whistled. For a while nothing happened, Ed thought it was all talk, Riku knew better and Pete worried that his trump card had failed him. But, it then happened. Coming from the sky was an unnatural and absolutely deafening _crack_.

Above the warriors, a large chunk of the sky had literally broken apart. A huge gaping hole forming in cracks and breaks, a total black void inside. Two dark hands stretched from the portal's edges and gripped onto them, pulling its body from the darkness. The beast's head was the first to emerge, a large white and red canine-like mask with the beady yellow eyes of the Heartless behind it. The arms strained further and the massing hulk of the creature dragged through the void. It was vaguely human shaped, all muscle and chord and tendon behind the dull and putrid brown coloured skin and charcoal black fur. The canine mask head had horns and was filled with rows of sharp teeth, a long red tongue snaking and lapping out from it. The body was unspectacular except for the gaping hole in the middle of the Heartless' sternum. It had the long, sloping shoulders of an ape, giving the impression it would be much taller than its already impressive nine-foot frame. It's hands and feet ended in razor sharp claws and the right hand grasped a very long and very dangerous looking sword and equally menacing shield. A Heartless emblem was emblazoned on both the flat of the sword, the shield and the peek of the mask.

"What the hell is that?" Riku had never seen any Heartless that looked remotely like this. Most Heartless were cartoony and overall not that menacing but this thing looked like a demon straight out of hell.

"Haha haha haha haha!" Pete laughed with his droning, idiotic chuckle. "You should consider yourselves lucky. 'Cause you punks are the first ever to lay eyes on the new and much improved Hollow Heartless."

"Hollow…Heartless?" Ed was even more lost than Riku as he stared at the large bulky beast that had dragged itself out of the hole. The beast dropped down like a stone from the sky and rocked the ground around them, sending up a cloud of dust and knocking them off kilter from the shockwave. The creature opened its mouth and let loose an unearthly, demonic howl. Now Riku was worried, Heartless don't make noise, they were incapable of speech or even simple things like grunts, yelps or roars.

"Yep, our new branch of shock troopers, hot off the assembly line." Pete chortled loudly, amused at the prospect of the three fighting the new Heartless breed. "Now if you excuse me, I have to see a squid about a Princess. So long jerk wads!" Pete waddled off from behind the cover of the massive Hollow Heartless. The beast looked at its prey with its dull yellow eyes, an uncharacteristic flash of intelligence flashed behind the mask and Riku's worries intensified when he saw it. Clearly this Heartless was something different but Ed and Al didn't notice this and charged in.

"Ed, Al, hold up!" Protested Riku as the two charged into battle. The two paid his warning no heed and continued their dash. With uncanny speed, the Heartless moved to the left of the Elrics in a blur accompanied by a dull buzzing sound and drove its blade into the ground before wrenching up mounds of earth and rocks the size of school desks to crash down on the Elrics.

"Dark Shield!" The silvery-black honeycombed shield appeared in front of the two and the mounds of earth bounced off of them, saving them for another fight. "I didn't want to use that." Riku muttered after the shield faded.

"What was that?" Al asked. Riku shook his head.

"Nothing. You guys just can't rush in against an enemy we haven't fought before. Especially this thing." He eyed the idle Hollow Heartless. "It seems to be able to live up to the hype."

"And what do you suggest we should do?" Ed brought up. Riku didn't have to think of a response as the Heartless roared again, that terrible, inhuman screech, and charged the heroes, sword gripped in both hands.

"Doesn't matter." Riku replied as the three jumped away from the mighty swing of the beast. "It looks like this thing wants to control the pace of the fight." Ed smirked at the idea as if it sounded like a good idea.

The beast was lumbering across the clearing again, this time his blade was only in one hand. Ed slammed Fullmetal Fury into the ground; the array spreading forth and a great yellow light appeared. Al slammed his hands on a circle he drew and several spires of earth shot from the ground, all slamming into the Heartless, stopping it in its tracks. Entrapped inside its earthen prison, the Heartless roared and thrashed, eventually breaking the spires in two with several mighty swings of its arms.

Continuing its charge, the Heartless swung its blade in a wide arc, missing the warriors of light. The group knew it was suicide to go into combat with that thing giving its size so they had to stay on the outskirts of its range and hit it with alchemy, boomeranging blades and dark techs, despite Riku's previous assertions against using the darkness it was all he could do. But the darkness was rather useless against the Heartless and the organic attacks of the alchemy were easily countered by the beast's unbelievable brute strength.

Ed had gathered a wind current around his Keyblade using his elemental and compound gathering techniques. He swung the blade in a wide arc to create an earth rending wind scythe. The Heartless brought up its blade and the wind buffeted off it harmlessly. "Damn it!" Ed swore furiously after his latest attempt to harm the monster failed to do anything. Oh sure, the beast had a few scratches and bruises but on it but nothing that could count as a really extreme injury. "This thing just isn't in the mood for playing fair and dieing!" The Hollow Heartless swung in a wide arc that Ed failed to notice but fortunately his height helped him avoid decapitation. "Man I never thought I'd be glad to be short. Wait, what am I saying?"

Riku's mood was much darker and his mind focused on the battle before him. He ran as the Heartless stabbed the ground and a shockwave trailed after him. It was clear that Maleficent's trump card of the Hollow Heartless was a powerful trump card indeed. This put Maleficent up there with the Immortals in terms of danger factor and problems when they encountered her. If they had to fight more of these Hollow Heartless', and there were more according to Pete, they could be in for some major difficulties in the future.

The Heartless had stopped its blind rampage that had ravaged the landscape (but leaving the Gummi Ship still intact just covered in debris) and stood still. A ragged stream of black and red energy gathered at its open mouth and formed into a sphere of red laced with black on the outside. The Keybladers stared at it in confusion until they heard a low _thrum_ and a red and black beam fired out over the heroes. They ducked at the last second to avoid the blazing laser and the accompanying dull _hum_. The beam it the jungle behind them and tore through tree after tree after tree, clear-cutting a pathway into the greenery.

Ed, Al and Riku clambered up hesitantly after the blast to see the beast charging them once more. Before they could react it was upon them and it slammed its blade into the ground, blowing dust and debris into the air. Edward and Alphonse were knocked aside by the force of the strike but Riku wasn't so fortunate. A jagged shard of stone flew up and sliced open a gouge on his face, blood slowly trickling down it. The strike had knocked the wind out of him and before he could suck anymore in the Hollow Heartless punched him, knocking him into the side of the Gummi Ship. As he recovered from the brutal attack he saw the blade flashing out of the corner of his eye. He turned and brought forth Way to the Dawn, blocking the majority of the attack but the tip of the blade landed a glancing blow, hitting his left hip and thigh and knocking him away. The Heartless made a noise that could be taken for enjoyment and amusement. It began to slowly stalk its wounded prey, slowly and methodically, making every moment even more excruciatingly painful. The advance was stopped when a series of loud and powerful firebombs covered the Heartless' head. Ed had used his oxygen bomb attack on the Heartless to stop it dead in its track. Al had pressed his hands onto a circle on a down tree causing vines to shoot from the trunk and enwrap the beast in place. Ed then created another array with his Keyblade; he began gathered as much nitrogen as he could, which is a lot as the air is mostly comprised of nitrogen, Ed then began to liquefy the nitrogen and shot it as a powerful, high-pressure stream of liquid nitrogen. It made contact with the Heartless and ice began to hook its tendrils into the body of the beast, clambering up the skin and taking root, sheets of crystalline ice spreading up the arm and chest of the creature.

It roared in pain as the ice spread around its body, the vines Al created snapping from the cold. The Hollow Heartless stumbled away in pain from the extreme temperature, still screaming and roaring and thrashing. Al charged up to the demon and punched the fragile ice covered body, shattering its right arm and blade with a single blow.

Riku, now up despite the pain from his wounds, saw this and decided to finish the job. "Time to end it all! Dark Sabre!" Inky black tendrils spread across Way to the Dawn's blade and covered it in darkness. He sliced it through the air and a jet-black wave of darkness streaked through the air and then into the body of the Heartless. It fell down in pain, a great wound carved out of its side, and began to writhe and scream in agony as its body dissolved into dark powdery flecks. The threat was finished.

Riku sighed and then gasped in pain, grabbing his side as blood oozed from his hip. He sat down and quickly rummaged through his pocket, snatching a frosted glass bottle and guzzled it down, his wounds knitting themselves up before his eyes.

"You know this is your fault Ed." Riku said, abruptly and suddenly.

Ed nearly fell over in shock. "Me? How is this my fault in anyway?"

"You said you were happy that Maleficent wasn't as strong as the Immortals and then that thing comes down and rains hell on us!"

"It still isn't my fault!"

Riku gave an exasperated sigh. "Doesn't matter." He looked at the devastation that the Heartless had caused. Trees uprooted, ground dishevelled and craters everywhere. "That was one Heartless we faced and it did all this. We need to warn the others in case they have to fight more of those things. Worse yet, we still have work to do on this world and we're already exhausted and injured." He was right; they hadn't left the first area on this world, were stuck on it until the Blank Keychain fired off, and already had experienced hell in a hand basket in the form of the Hollow Heartless.

But, just then, one of the medallions rose up from Riku's bag, glowing with a golden and white light. It hovered in the air until Ed shot a ray of light from his Keyblade into it, the beam passed through the Keychain and off into space.

"That's it?" Al asked in confusion.

"It looks that way, Al," Ed commented glad to be able to leave the world. "And in my books it wasn't a moment too soon. I'm beginning to think I'm allergic to Hollow Heartless."

"Such a bad joke brother," noted Al. Ed shrugged off his little brother's remark and walked to the ship, all the repairs complete, Al soon followed. "Come on Riku, you're the only one who can fly the ship."

"Be there in a second, Al." Riku called back. Al climbed up the ramp to leave Riku to look over the torn and destroyed battlefield. Riku knew what Maleficent was doing, he was her apprentice at one point and he also knew that this could only end badly for everyone else. He needed to gain his element even more now that they were in such a dire situation and time was on short supply. His train of thought was broken when he saw a tiny glint where the Hollow Heartless once stood. He walked over and found a summon charm with an image of two crossed blades, one black and one white.

Suddenly, he heard a noise.

"Who's there?" Riku whirled around, turning to see the source of the noise, turning to see an inky darkness crawling around his feet and in a matter of seconds he was encapsulated in a shell of shadows. Seeing his situation, the teenage Keyblader tried to use his own darkness to dispel it but to no avail. "What the hell is this?" He swore loudly, not expecting a response.

"Is that the kind of welcome I get from the boy I once considered my own son?" Riku didn't need to be told whose voice this was.

"Maleficent!" He summoned the Keyblade in an instant as the visage of the witch came into view inside the dark capsule.

"Hello Riku," she said with a voice that wasn't unpleasant but still dripped with malice. "I am glad to see you again. After you were swallowed by the darkness, why I feared for the worse, your fate being left unknown."

"Shut up!" He roared, staying his ground. "Don't lie to me like that. We both know you care for nothing and no one but yourself and your ambitions. Why are you here and what do you want?"

Maleficent was taken aback by the sudden outburst. "Why I am just here to check up on my own investment."

"Shut up! I am no longer your 'investment' I am my own man! No longer will I choose to be the pawn to darkness so just leave now or I will exact my revenge!" He eyed Maleficent darkly, the witch not caring about his feelings but, then again, he didn't care about what she thought. "All that time you tempted me and manipulated me and made me do all those terrible things… I don't even want to think about that! If you think you can turn me against my friends again then you are even more foolish then I thought."

"Fool? Me?" Maleficent reared back, emerald flames enshrouding her. "To think I was going to take you back as my apprentice. But if this is how you treat people who are nice to you then I will crush you like all the others in my way."

"There is nothing you can offer me that would make me go back to you!" It was all Riku could do not to charge the witch and kill her but he had no clue how strong she was and if he could win so he needed to stay still.

"Really? Even if I taught you how to use your darkness to its full effect?" She tempted once again but Riku knew what was at the end of that road. "You really are a fool. You take a stance against the darkness but still use it. You can't even defeat a single Hollow Heartless by yourself. No wonder Sora is leaving you behind in the dust." He form vanished into darkness and flames but her voice lingered. "Once you were equals, soon you shan't be fit to clean his shoes. Him and his Princess."

The darkness faded away, no time had visibly passed in the outside world. Riku gritted his teeth, and hard. For all the hatred he had towards Maleficent, she was right. His darkness wasn't strong enough…nothing he did seemed strong enough. He was a fearsome warrior in his own right but compared to Sora, Rain, Claudio and his Chain Arts, Ed and his alchemy…and soon Kairi, once she mastered her light. Compared to all of them he wasn't strong enough, he was falling behind and soon wouldn't seem to matter as they grew stronger but he stayed the same. He heard Al call him into the ship, sighed and walked off, not saying a word of his personal thoughts as they left the Deep Jungle.

**KHKHKH**

Sora stared at his sleeping Princess, resting on the couch of the Gummi Ship. Her chest rising and falling slowly as she breathed in her sleep, he tiny body snuggling up to the couch. Sora couldn't help but wonder how one person could be so beautiful. And it wasn't just one aspect about her that was beautiful but rather it was everything about her. Her dark red locks of hair, her pure, crystalline eyes, her pure, milky white skin, her radiant smile…everything. How he never realized that she was the most perfect being ever to exist is beyond him. She was, in everyway, just perfect.

And she loved him.

Sora never considered himself handsome, so for Kairi to love him the same way he loved her was something big for him. But he knew it wasn't her face or her eyes that he loved most, and he knew that she felt the same way about him. It was her heart he loved and likewise for her. His heart rejoiced in splendour, exploding in joy as he smiled and watched her sleep and dream.

"Not thinking of taking advantage of our beloved Princess, are you kiddo?" Claudio's voice nearly caused Sora to fall flat on his face and yelp in shock. The warrior stood right behind him, Rain at his side, grinning at the short, brown-haired boy.

"What? No! I would never!" He defended, offended by the very thought.

Rain smiled at him. "That's good." She ruffled his hair and took a seat opposite to him and Kairi, Claudio choosing to sit on the arm of the couch Kairi rested on, gazing at his Princess, his former charge, not with lover's eyes like Sora, but fatherly eyes.

"She's beautiful isn't she?" Sora asked the two former guardians. Claudio raised a thin brow at the question but Rain smiled in response.

"Yes, she is." Rain said softly, "a Princess in everyway. Body, heart, mind and soul."

"And to think I thought to ask King Areo to betroth Caleb to her." Claudio muttered, but loud enough for everyone else to hear. "Not that Caleb would have mind, he would have loved it. But, gods, just look at her. Our little Princess all grown up, she's not so little anymore."

"No, she isn't." Rain replied, in her sweet, quiet voice. "But she's still our Princess." She walked over to her husband, clasped his hand and kissed him lightly.

"Wait, am I missing something? Who's Caleb?" Sora asked. The two other warriors shared a private glance at each other.

Claudio coughed into his fist. "Caleb… Caleb was our son."

"Was? What…what happened to him?"

Sadness darkened Rain and Claudio's eyes. "He…died…" Rain said softly and sadly, Claudio's own face reflecting her tone.

"I'm sorry." Sora didn't know what to say. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"Don't apologize Sora." Rain retorted. "It was along time ago, before The Fall. If Kairi could remember him, I know she would be hurt too but would focus on the good times they spent together."

"Were they close?"

"Close?" Claudio said in a voice that was half a laugh, half a harsh bark. "They were the best of friends. When Kairi turned four, we were assigned to be her personal bodyguards." He chuckled softly. "More like babysitters in truth, but we didn't mind. We looked to her as our own daughter and she looked to us as if we were a second set of parents. Caleb was a year older than her but they were fast friends… but then," his tone grew darker, "one day, a year after we became her guardians, Caleb just…died. We never knew what happened to him but after The Fall…we suspect the Heartless."

Sora sighed and Rain and Claudio echoed the statement, but there's were more sorrowful. "Is it also true about what Kira said?" He had been afraid to ask this question. His fears were realized when Claudio nodded sternly. "And what Kairi told me about what happened to her. That too?" He nodded again.

After the revelation of Kira and Kairi's relationship, Kairi told Sora about what happened on Beast's Castle involving her and Kira's darkness. This was, of course, against the wishes of Claudio and Rain but Kairi felt that her new boyfriend deserved to know and who were Claudio and Rain to tell there Princess no?

Sora had been in a rage when he found out, at Claudio, at Rain, but mostly at Kira. He wanted to find Kira and hurt him, make him tell him how to heal Kairi. This is exactly what Claudio had feared would happen. Sora, spurned on by the fact that his love had been infected by this vile disease, had no greater desire than to go to the Immortal stronghold, break into the castle, find Kira and torture him tenfold for every ounce of pain he caused Kairi. But Claudio had to shoot him down.

His words still rung in Sora's head, "You think you can beat Kira?" He had told him harshly. "Did you learn nothing on Traverse Town? Kira, and for the most part the majority of the Immortals would destroy us. You think just because you've defeated Aeron, Vaniele and Josef that you can beat Kira? I will give you Josef and Vaniele, they're weak but Aeron barely showed you any of his power. Kaiser, Creed, Aeron, Kira, Cassius and many others would tear you apart if you tried something so stupid! This is why I didn't want to tell you, because you would try and do something rash and stupid like this!"

At that point, Claudio had calmed down after his venting on the Keyblade Master. "The only thing we can do," he told him, much more gently than before, "is train, get stronger and wait. We can beat the Immortals but we need time to train. Kairi, the best thing she can do, is to strengthen her light to counter the darkness around her. The best thing you can do Sora, is just wait and watch. Wait for the time to come to defeat Kira and watch Kairi grow stronger and stronger. Protect her when you need to but always watch and let her grow."

Sora had taken the words to heart and would do just that. Wait, watch and protect. Wait for the moment, watch her grow and protect her when needed. He would do that and so would Claudio and Rain. And when the time came, they would defeat them all. Kira and Cassius, Kaiser and Aeron. All of them…all the Immortals, they would fall, just like the Organization.

"Sora," Rain broke his train of thought. "If anything happens to us, please, promise us you will protect Kairi in our stead."

"Don't worry Rain. I will always protect Kairi." He said, all seriousness showing. "But I will also not let anything happen to you." Rain averted her gaze from the boy. "Why would anything happen to you anyways?"

"In this life you never really know what fate will deliver to you." Rain replied solemnly. "We took an oath along time ago, to die protecting the Princess if need be. It may just come to that." Claudio hung his head despairingly.

"It better not have to come to that." The silver-blue haired warrior remarked. "I promised myself I would see her to her throne and protect her to the end of my days."

Sora chuckled to himself. "You make too many promises." He said in an off-handed way.

"Yeah," said Claudio with the faintest of smiles. He then mumbled, under his breath, "That's one of my problems."

**KHKHKH**

It was the middle of the night on the _Hunter_ and everyone was fast asleep. Excluding Riku. He had snuck out of his room, past the hallways and into the training simulator. Typing in the information needed, the white room and its grey circuitry lining began to waver away as a massive green field in the middle of a pre-dawn haze appeared in its place. The sun was just beginning to rise from the horizon, shading the field in a rosy haze. But the only thing that interested Riku was on the horizon, but it was not as far away as the sun.

It was a Hollow Heartless

The Hollow Heartless, specifically named a Fishbone Barbarian Heartless, stood at the opposite end of the field, grinning with an unseen malice in Heartless, its eyes contemplating its opponent, Riku, in wry amusement. The Hollow Heartless was clearly superior to every other Heartless he had faced, stronger, faster and smarter than anything else imaginable. The dull yellow eyes flickered with some emotion and then charged across the field. Fortunately, Riku was ready.

"Dark Shield!" The honeycomb barrier flashed in front of him, the Fishbone hitting it instead of him and causing him to careen back across the field. With its long arm and even longer sword, the Heartless still had Riku in reach of an attack. Riku rolled under the blade and then rolled towards the Heartless. He swung at it with a mighty leaping blow, getting inside its reach so the sword couldn't hit him, but the massive shield blocked the attack. Blue sparks flew into Riku's face and he bounced off the metallic wall held in the hand of the Barbarian.

"Dark Barrage!" Black circular bolts flew from all around him but when they made contact with the Heartless, they vanished into its being. The canine mask opened and the Heartless made a sound halfway between a burp and a bark. _It's laughing at me._ Riku realized a few seconds after the Heartless made the sound. He tried another Dark Barrage but the same result came up.

The Fishbone charged him again, a dull roar accompanying him, Riku had to use all his skill just to avoid losing his ankles to the behemoth's blade but the gust from the slash was enough to buffet him back a few feet in the wind. He charged again, rolling past the sword and then the shield, he delivered a series of quick cuts to the legs of the Heartless, black blood pouring out. _Blood? Heartless don't have blood. What did Maleficent do here?_

As her apprentice, he had been privy to all of her secrets and he knew that she had tried to create an army of Heartless shock troopers to assist in her conquering the universe. She had failed to obtain the Heartless of either the Fayth or the Aeons of Spira, the same result with the Espers of Ivalice, and the same could be said involving the demons of Fortuna and Feudal Japan. All attempts to achieve her super soldiers had failed, but now, it seems she had realized this goal.

Riku snapped back into reality as he was kicked away by the tree-trunk leg of the Heartless, landing with a dull thud. He grunted as he rose up, the pain in his ribs making its presence know. The Fishbone was gathering red and black energy at its open mouth, the beam attack. As it fired off with the dull _thrum_, Riku brought up his Dark Shield, the energy blast washing over his barrier.

When both the beam and the shield faded he was left kneeling and perspiring, exhausted at his efforts just to stay alive.

"Damn it." He swore to himself. "This guy…he's too strong. I can't win. There's no way."

_Yes, there is_

The voice answered him from deep inside his heart and he knew the voice. He knew it as good as his own.

_No._ He wanted to scream but he couldn't. And then, he was falling.

**KHKHKH**

Riku had rarely been forced to "Dive into the Heart". The only times he had to were when he took Xehanort's form and when he achieved upgrading Soul Eater into the Way to the Dawn Keyblade. His stained-glass panel had changed a little bit. He was still in the center upon a background showing a sun rising, gold over a field of pitch darkness. Around his image was, first, a heart, the insides of the heart blackened; it had been like that forever. Next to the heart, trapped within circles, were the faces of Sora, Kairi, King Mickey, and DiZ. And at the end of the row of circles was another circle but there wasn't just the face of a person close to his heart…no, it was much worse than that. Standing in the circle was the man who he had never wished to see again:

Xehanort's Heartless.

"Hello Riku." Xehanort said with a malevolent smile.

"Xehanort," Riku growled, his voice angry but restrained when compared to his earlier confrontation with Maleficent. He glared at the man standing in front of him, the man who had turned his life into a living hell. He glared at him hating every inch of him, the white hair, the yellow eyes, the dark skin, the black and white coat, and the Heartless emblem branded on his chest.

Xehanort's disposition grew sterner in a flash. "May I ask why you have been unable to destroy that one little Heartless?" Riku's glare intensified, his fingers itching to summon Way to the Dawn but he knew that 'Ansem' before him was just a spectre, unable to hurt him.

He gulped down his pride and looked at the Heartless. "Its too powerful." He told Xehanort sullenly. "It absorbs any darkness I throw at it and doesn't tire or let itself be affected by injuries." Xehanort clicked his tongue in disapproval.

"Then why do you just stand there and take the abuse?" Xehanort's shade shook his head. "Did I teach nothing through Castle Oblivion? Through the World That Never Was?"

"I will not use your powers again!"

"And why not? Darkness is not inherently evil. It is just a power like light. It can be wielded by good or evil. It all depends on how you use it." Riku eyed him warily, fearing a trap but wanting to take the offer.

"Why are you telling me this? Why now?" Riku wanted to disarm the suspected trap as much as he could.

"Its nothing to benefit you." Xehanort sniffed at the question. "I haven't gone soft or anything. It is simply self-preservation. I am the only fragment left in existence of Xehanort. If you die, I die and then my mark is vanished from the world." Xehanort then glided over to Riku and placed his hand on his shoulder, earning a slight growl. "Remember that power? Do you? Let it course through your body once more. Let the strength pulse in your heart and feel truly strong once more."

"Only to help my friends." Riku cut him off but Xehanort didn't seem to care.

"Yes, yes and for the good of the worlds and the universe for sure." He stated in a bored voice. "Now, will you expect the darkness once more?"

"Yes."

**KHKHKH**

He was now back in the simulator, facing the Hollow Heartless once more. He noticed that his wounds from the blast had been healed slightly. The Heartless grinned at Riku with rows of disgusting, sharp teeth but Riku grinned back. Concentrating, he pulled his shadow off from the ground and made it take the shape of a Heartless. It was tall, muscular, all black with two yellow beady eyes and two antennae stretching out from its head and slicked back behind it. The Guardian mimicked the grin of its master before sinking into the ground and snaking like a shadow and rose up behind the Fishbone. Without any effort, it relieved the Barbarian of its shield and sword and began to pummel it with fists the size of hams, the white mask yielding and cracking to the black fists. The beast let out a roar of pain.

Riku grinned as the Guardian smacked the Hollow Heartless around like it was nothing but he knew it wouldn't be enough. Pressing his hand to the digital ground, Riku forced a load of darkness energy into the ground. "Darkness Wave!" A massive shockwave composed of darkness pulsed and ebbed from his head, stretching along the land. It hit the Heartless and the darkness began to take affect, the Fishbone roaring in pain once more. Riku concentrated more darkness into the wave and the ink black and purple wave overran the behemoth Heartless before reducing the body to dust and the dust turning into digital fractals, only the ghastly wail of the monster remained. He couldn't enjoy it though, as he was falling once more.

**KHKHKH**

Once more, he was standing on his platform, facing Xehanort's Heartless.

"A marvellous display Riku." Xehanort complemented dryly, offering a meagre applause to the boy who used to be his vessel. "How did it feel?"

"It was definitely a faster way of beating them." Riku admitted. "But it took way too much out of me, beating a creature of darkness with darkness."

Xehanort paid no mind to the comment. "Well, that can be remedied with training. Soon the darkness will be the ultimate weapon of your group."

"Do not fill his heads with lies Heartless." A new voice said. Riku and Xehanort both turned to see a man wearing armour under a cloak, dishevelled clothing and a mask. "Those who wallow in darkness will be destined to be swallowed by it."

"You!" Xehanort raged at the stranger. "You have no right to be here! You interloper!"

"I have as much right as you do!" The stranger shot back. "The only reason you are here is because you possessed the boy. You have no true place in this heart."

"Riku," Xehanort had turned to the Keyblader, " do no listen to this man! He will fill you head with lies and lead you onto a path of ruin. You must-" A ray of light shot from the stranger's hand and hit Xehanort in the head, the image of the Heartless shattering in an instant.

"Much like you did to him?" The stranger remarked with a cold voice.

"Who are you?" Riku asked warily.

"I am a friend." The stranger replied in a much friendlier voice. "I have appeared to both Sora and Kairi to help them, and you as well, if you remember. Hopefully they will head my words. And hopefully you will head mine. You have been given the choice to wield darkness. Honestly and truthfully, no interference, just your own choice, is this the power you desire? To use your darkness for the forces of light?"

Riku chewed on his lip, taking his time on the question before answering. "Yes, I will wield the darkness. I will wield it but I will not be used by it. I will keep my heart and fight for my friends and there future, not for any selfish reasons." He looked at the figure sternly. "I asked for this power and received it, I was never afraid of it. But now is different. Now I fight with good intentions in my heart and for a good reason."

The figure nodded. "Good choice. Now please, place all your darkness into a sphere and put it into the center of the panel." Riku looked at him strangely. "This is no trick. Please, trust me." Riku formed as much darkness as he could manage into a solid orb and threw the swirling blackness high above into the center of his stained glass panel. From Kairi and Sora's circles, blue rays of light shot out and entered the orb. From the blackened heart, a red beam shot into the sphere and from the stranger's hand fired a pale white beam of light. All four beams met into the orb and swirled around until the once dark orb became a mixture of swirling black, red, purple and gold.

"Riku Shiozaki," the stranger began in a regal voice. "I herby dub thee the new Warrior of the Dawn." The swirling orb fell to Riku's hand and entered his body; energy that he never knew existed rushing into him. "You choose to wield darkness for the purpose of the light. When a warrior chooses so then they are using neither darkness nor light, not even twilight. It is a power different from all of them."

"The power of dawn." Riku said, the words just coming to him, looking to his panel and seeing his Keyblade in his hand. "Now I remember why I named it the Way to the Dawn. That was the road I chose to walk after Castle Oblivion, the road between light and darkness. A transition of the two, darkness rising back into light."

"Yes," the figure agreed, "that is dawn. Not a fusion of elements but more of a transition. Do you remember the old saying?"

"The darkness is always greatest before the dawn." He recited from memory. "And the light that pierces the darkness is always strongest."

The figure nodded again. "Yes, that is the power of dawn, the greatest darkness and the greatest light, melded as one." He then turned to leave but stopped right before reaching the end on the panel. "Aren't you going to tell me not to go? To ask me who I am? Everyone else does."

"No, I need you to go." Riku looked at the figure and smiled. "So I can figure how dawn is different from darkness."

**KHKHKH**

Riku was back in the digital field, the Fishbone Barbarian Hollow Heartless was alive once more, or alive as it could be considering it was a hologram. Its yellow eyes filled with rage as Riku's own aqua eyes filled with a growing strength. The Heartless roared its unearthly roar and charged Riku but he was ready. Moving faster than he could think he was behind the Heartless in a matter of seconds and then sent a great slash at the spine, black blooding flowing out of it. The Heartless turned to crush him but he dashed away to a safe distance. He stuck his palm out and felt the power of dawn coursing through him. Golden energy collected at his fingertips and he let it fly.

"Ray of Dawn." A beam of golden light, laced with darkness, flew from his hand, the Heartless caught the ray with its shield but it made no difference. The shield blew up and the resulting explosion destroyed both of the beast's hands at the wrists. Riku swung his blade out from his body and collected golden light on the blade itself. Running, he took the air and made a move with his dawn enwrapped Keyblade.

"Prominence Razor." As soon as the blade of dawn touched the mask of the Heartless, the entire body began to dissolve into dusts and fractals. He passed through the dissipating body and the blade, still enwrapped in golden energy, hit the ground, carving a massive gouge into the digital landscape. Riku stared at his blade and his palms, marvelling at the power he had just displayed. It was scary yet comforting at the same time. He then slammed his fist into his palm and smile.

_I have found my element._

**To Be Continued**

_I went through great lengths to make the difference between Hollow Heartless and normal Heartless evident. Hollow Heartless make noise, are intelligent, are much stronger and faster and bleed blood. Considering who Maleficent has tried to turn into her Heartless army, these guys much be pretty bad…anyone have an idea as too what Maleficent used to create the Hollow Heartless?_

_Also, another summoning charm, this one for Riku. Here's the quote from the chapter:_

"His train of thought was broken when he saw a tiny glint where the Hollow Heartless once stood. He walked over and found a summon charm with an image of two crossed blades, one black and one white."

_Second hint (a bit of a riddle): The summoned character is a disgraced knight and airship captain. He was the starring role in Final Fantasy IV and II._

_And Riku's last name ('Shiozaki') is a tribute to the indy wrestler, Go Shiozaki._


	18. Not All Is Right in the Magical Kingdom

_Angelo: This is kind of getting insane here._

_Cage: What is?_

_Angelo: The 2500 hits and 17 reviews. What is with that? I mean, I know I'm not a great writer, I don't have word of mouth buzz and this is my first fan-fiction but come on people!_

_Cage: I say that this is the fangirls getting revenge for not including Pirates of the Caribbean. Frankly I was betting that they would charge your home, drag you out by the ankles and crucify you._

_Angelo: You were betting on my fate? Why?_

_Cage: It wasn't only me, Creed bet they would do nothing, Claudio thought they would spam you email box with ads and viruses, and Riku bet that they would vandalize your account with scathing reviews._

_Angelo: Well then, who won?_

_Captain Jack Sparrow: That would be me, mate!_

_Angelo (sweat-dropping): I hate karma…_

_Cage: Enjoy the chapter and remember, Angelo claims no right of ownership over anything belonging to Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, Fullmetal Alchemist, anything relating to Hiromu Arakawa or any other series that may or may not appear._

Chapter 18: Not All Is Right in the Magical Kingdom

Sora stared at his own reflection in the obsidian blade.

Truth be told he wasn't staring at his reflection but at the blade itself, the blade that represented Riku for him and Axel for Roxas, the Oblivion Keyblade. When he summoned his Keyblade during a practise simulation it instantly began to react to Kairi's Oathkeeper and it transformed into Oblivion. From then on, no matter what Keychain he attached to the blade it would instantly just turn back into Oblivion. There was nothing wrong with Oblivion in his mind, but what was really just a niggling factor for him was that he had no clue why the Keyblade was being so stubborn, it had never done this before and now it was being more bull-headed than Claudio.

He felt something clap down on his shoulder and saw the black-gloved hand of Claudio. "What's up sport?" Claudio said with an easy smile, Rain standing behind him. His eye then trailed to Oblivion. "Why do you have that as your Keyblade?"

"I don't know." Sora admitted. "When I entered the training simulator with Kairi the other day my Keyblade reacted the second she summoned hers and I don't know why." Claudio scratched his head but it was Rain who answered.

"I have an idea." She offered. "I may not be a Keyblade scholar or anything like that but I think it may have something to do with Kairi wielding Oathkeeper. From what I gather from you and Roxas, the blades are metaphorical, Oathkeeper representing Kairi for you and Namine for Roxas and Oblivion represents Riku and Axel. What's more, your friendship and rivalry with Riku and your relationship with Kairi created the Keychains for Oblivion and Oathkeeper, respectively." When she finished both Claudio and Sora just looked at her. "What?" She asked innocently. "I can't have moments of unprovoked insight?"

"Anyways…" Claudio trailed off, ignoring his wife's moment of insight much to her chagrin. She began to punch at him playfully before they transitioned into a full-on love fest. At this point, Kairi walked in.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Kairi shouted down at her former bodyguards. "I thought we had a rule about not flaunting each other's love in front of the other couple?"

"Sorry, Prin – Kairi." Claudio blushed, trying his hardest not to say Princess at his Princesses command (talk about irony). He pushed himself off of Rain and coughed into his fist. "But, um, we didn't come down on you two last night."

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked and Claudio raised an eyebrow.

"Last night at like two, you must have finished your movie cause I could hear you two clambering all over each other like lovesick puppies."

"Claudio, we were asleep at two." Kairi corrected the warrior. Claudio looked at the floor for a moment, thinking something over before a thought came.

"But if you were asleep…and if I was reading and Rain was also asleep…" Claudio began before turning to Sora. "Roxas!" He shouted at Sora and his blonde counterpart detached from his Somebody.

"Okay, you caught us." The ex-Nobody began. "You can come out Namine." Kairi's counterpart came out as well. "Sorry everyone, Namine and I took advantage at the alone time." He put an arm over Namine and she answered with a peck on the cheek.

Following the split, Namine and Roxas began to detach themselves at will in the middle of the day, expanding the crew aboard the ship to six. It raised questions amongst the Nobodies though as they could never separate before unless the two were asleep, they could only communicate with their counterparts. While the four of them began to leave the room an alarm blared and Claudio snapped towards the control console, hitting a button that shut off the alarm before the automated voice piped in.

"Okay folks," Claudio began, glancing at the screen. "Stow away your Nobodies and pack your bags, we'll be landing on the magical kingdom, the everlasting bastion of light, Disney Castle."

"Alright!" Sora exclaimed, leaping away from his conversation with Roxas. "Looks like a relaxing break from our normal escapades."

"Thanks to the Cornerstone of Light, right?" Kairi asked slyly and Sora nodded.

"Someone's been reading my journal." Sora noted and affectionately put his arm over her.

"Oh, yeah, that's romantic." Roxas commented, rolling his eyes. Sora shot daggers at him.

"Apparently he missed the memo about 'Stowing away Nobodies'." Roxas feigned a chuckle before both he and Namine vanished back into Sora and Kairi.

**KHKHKH**

The crew made landing shortly after, appearing in the courtyard of Disney Castle. As always the brooms were walking around, doing their chores in silent happiness, marching around the sculpted shrubs and saluting Sora as they passed. The air and atmosphere around the castle was much lighter and less dire than Sora's last visit when Maleficent threatened to take control of Disney Castle.

"What's wrong Claudio?" Kairi asked the warrior, now wearing a dark navy coat with flame decals at the bottom of the coat and a white butterfly rising from the flames.

"I don't know." He sighed. "Maybe its because this world always seems too cheery and sugary to me if you get my drift. But…there's something in the air…something intangible…I just can't quite put my-"

Claudio was cut off when a rumbling overtook the ground; coming from the end of the courtyard came a massive herd of charging beasts. They looked like gargantuan yellow chickens, each one wearing steel barding and being ridden by a variety of armoured warriors. The herd of chicken creatures, Chocobos to be exact, came running like bats out of hell, right towards our heroes. Rain, Sora and Kairi were lucky enough to get out of the way but the herd of flightless avian creatures trampled Claudio repeatedly. The Chocobo herd left a large trodden imprint in the verdant green field. Claudio lifted his upper body out of the imprint with a pained and dazed look on his long face.

"Now I know why there was an air of impending doom around this place." He said dryly and wearily. "Chocobos. I hate Chocobos." At this point, one stray mounted Chocobo came running from the stables and landed one of its four clawed feet on Claudio's face, leaving a large footprint on his face and knocking him down again. "I hate Chocobos! HATE THEM!!"

Sora, ignoring the warrior's cry of anguish, looked to the stables to see a group of Chocobo Knights mounting up. "Hey!" He called to them. "What's going on? Why are you charging out the gates?"

"We're just going off to do some training exercises, Keyblade Master Sora." A redheaded Chocobo Knight replied cordially. "We got to get into top shape if we are to become a permanent fixture here at Disney Castle."

"'Permanent Fixture'? What are you talking about?" Rain raised an eyebrow and was answered by a passing older knight with a walrus moustache.

"We are currently dispossessed of are world." The knight said, keeping his Chocobo jogging in place. "The hundred of us remaining found refuge here and are hoping that we can convince His Majesty to be a branch of his military forces." The two knights followed by another dozen coming from the stables, trotted past the warriors, Claudio muttering thanks, as they didn't trample him, and rode out the gate.

"Any ideas as to what we should do?" Rain asked Sora following the departure of the Chocobo Knights. Sora put his hand on his chin and thought for a moment.

"I guess we should go see Queen Minney, see what's up." He offered and the group nodded. They took a few steps towards the castle gates before several portals encircled with thorns appeared and several Nobodies wriggled out of the void and into the courtyard. Following this, the air shimmered and several Fell Souls materialized into the courtyard including another new breed. These beasts were hunched over with long, swaying arms that nearly touched the ground. They had fire red skin and coal black armour plating with two long, flat ended spikes rising from their shoulder blades. The upper half of their face was covered by a semi dome of the coal black plating with three bright orange eyes hiding behind the plates. These were the Fire Brutes.

"Nobodies? Fell Souls?" Sora whipped his head around at the sight with a confused look on his face, summoning his obsidian Oblivion Keyblade. "What gives? Do you think the Cornerstone was stolen or something?"

Claudio shook his head. "No, I don't think it's that. I think it's, you know, that the Cornerstone only repels creatures with darkness in their hearts. And Nobodies and Fell Souls are bodies and souls. You know? No hearts."

"Oh, right." Sora said dryly, cutting down one of the Fire Brutes. These new Fell Souls hurled fireballs from their large primitive fists and used their swaying arms as clubs. The Brutes could also bring up a shield of fire and charge enemies at close range. All of this made little difference when Blizzard and Water magic was brought into play by Sora and Kairi.

The battle proved to be nothing much compared to the other battles the group had recently encountered but it was eventful to say the least. Halfway through the fighting, orbs of bright light shot out from Sora and Kairi and formed into Roxas and Namine. Needless to say, everyone was a little shocked by the sudden appearance of the two Nobodies.

"Roxas?" Sora said looking from his counterpart to Kairi's and then back to his. "Namine?"

"What's going on you two?" Kairi asked them while fending off the attack of a Samurai.

"We'll explain later." Roxas retorted before turning to Namine. "You ready to test this in real life?"

She nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be." She stuck out one hand while Roxas stuck out to and flashes of light engulfed the outstretched hands. Roxas was now wielding both the Guardian Soul and Sleeping Lion Keyblades while Namine gripped Blooming Radiance. In the instant they summoned the mythic weapons, their transparent, spirit-like images turned solid.

"Alright! We did it!" Roxas smiled and spun both of his Keyblades before cutting down the nearest Fell Soul.

"Wait. Did what?" Kairi tried her hardest to balance fighting and conversing with the now corporeal Nobodies.

"Namine. Explain." Roxas huffed while revelling in the fact that he could fight and battle with the best of them once more.

"We came up with this idea a while ago." Namine said while casting a few magic blasts at faraway targets. "One day Roxas got this idiotic idea to enter the combat simulator. When his opponent appeared he was able to summon his Keyblades and became real. We're your Nobodies and since you can use Keyblades we can too, so I applied the same idea Roxas used and summoned a Keyblade."

"So, the Keyblade acts as an anchor for you two to our plane of existence and allows you to interact with the physical world?" Claudio summarized the story. Namine confirmed with a quick nod and Claudio smirked victoriously. "Am I good or what?" He said to no one in particular.

The fight continued on with the inclusion of the two Nobodies. Claudio and Rain decided it would be best for the others if they stayed back and let the kids have their fun. Claudio hugged the walls and topiary sculptures firing rounds from Low Cut at a leisurely pace while Rain would stand still and attack with various magic spells. If anyone were in need of healing or protection, Rain would offer up a Cure or Protect spell for his or her assistance.

Both Kairi and Namine used their swift, evasion heavy fighting style and magic abilities. Although Namine had never been in a fight or had any prior training, it seemed that Kairi's training had paid off for Namine as well. She cut down Dusk after Dusk that got in her way before spinning and casting a Blizzard spell on one of the Fire Brutes to encase it in a solid block of ice. Kairi did an uncharacteristic rush to a Sniper, cancelling its long-ranged attacks, snapping its crossbow with a downward cut and then blasting it point-blank with a Fire spell. She spotted a group of Chemists slinking behind Namine and instantly used her Photo Darts to pierce the Chemist's shields and destroy them in a flash of white light. She smiled at her increasing proficiency in her light abilities before she saw three golden blurs pass her shoulder. Turning around, she just barely caught a glimpse of a Savant dissipating into oblivion. She spied Namine across the battlefield, smiling at the handiwork of her Thunder magic.

Sora was fighting as he would normally fight, with reckless abandon, slashing and blocking and striking wherever he went. He looked down to the silver medallion hanging off of his belt. He wanted to test out Claudio's invention badly but Driving cost a lot of energy and using an untested ability in the heat of battle against weak opponents probably wasn't the best use of a theoretical device. Instead he swung Oblivion to its full ability until it was nothing but a black blur. When he came up against a group of Fire Brutes, he used a Blizzaga spell to coat his Keyblade with ice. In quick, black and ice blue flashes, Sora sliced through each Fire Brute, the wounds sizzling from the intense cold before they vanished into Oblivion.

Roxas though, took revelry in the battle, attacking with intense speed and strength from his two Keyblades. The entire battle he had a smile plastered on his face and attacked with ferocity, fervour and fury that he only knew existed when he was part of the Organization. He totally eschewed magic and simply hacked apart the enemies set before him.

But even with the combined attacks of Rain, Claudio, Kairi, Namine, Sora and Roxas, the Fell Souls and Nobodies kept multiplying. There did seem to be no end to the onslaught as more and more waves of the enemies kept spawning. Magic ran out, ammunition stocks ran low and even ferocious fervour like Roxas' started to deplete after the enemies began to slowly overwhelm them.

"Oh come on!" Sora moaned after about the seventh new wave of enemies spawned forth. "Will this ever end?" He spotted a Blue Mage at his flank and sliced through it, armour, ring and all.

"Hey, would you like me to butt in?" Claudio asked, indignant, still shooting from atop his perch on a hedge. "I was giving you guys a little reprieve by not using my powers and all. But if you are so insistent."

"No!" Roxas shot down. "This is my first fight in a long time, you and your Chain Arts stay the hell out of this!" Claudio frowned at the blonde Keyblader.

"Roxas, I want to win this on our own to," Namine pleaded to Roxas. "But you have to look at this realistically. Look at the odds. We may just have to swallow our pride and have Claudio help." Roxas muttered something but no one could ask what he said.

Jumping from the castle rooftops, there was a purple blur and several Nobodies just exploded into white light. The blur landed and stopped moving, revealing a skinny man wielding a spear taller than he was. He wore long shorts that ended almost half way down his calf, the fabric such a dark navy it was almost black. He wore tall riding boots and purple metal greaves over the boots. His upper body was covered by black body amour complete with shoulder pads and gauntlets of the same purple metal as his greaves. On his head was a purple helmet that kept his face exposed but the tip was pushed down so that it almost covered his eyes. The helm peaked at the back into a flattened spike and two roaring dragon's heads were placed at the side of the helm.

The man narrowed his eyes at the enemy platoon and spun his spear around before gripping it in both hands. The spear's haft was seven feet tall with the head of it a foot and a half long metallic blade shaped like a lightning bolt. From the side of the spearhead was an arc of metal extending from halfway up the blade, with three spikes extending and piercing the arc, almost imitating a dragon wing.

He shouldered his spear and focused on a group of Chemists and Blue Mages. "Your pain shall be twofold. Dragon Skill: Armour Break!" The spearhead pulsated with purple light before the man charged forth and cut through the Nobodies, the spearhead contacting with them and making some kind of shattering sound. "Now, will those shields and armour help you know?" He asked the Nobodies before jabbing each one with a quick thrust from his spear, obliterating the Nobodies in quick succession.

"'Dragon Skill'?" Claudio repeated almost silently to himself. "So, we have ourselves a Dragoon, eh?" He looked to Rain and she nodded, confirming what they saw and thought. "This could be interesting."

The battle nearly paused as the dragoon quickly went through the Nobodies and Fell Souls in short order. Also, either the dragoon's presence on the battlefield or the fact that the enemies had ran out of reinforcements caused any more waves of foes from spawning as the dragoon twirled his lance around and slashed, pierced and impaled every foe in sight. Soon only a hand full of enemies were left and they were all converging on the dragoon who was, as of now, exhausted from his physical exertion. But he still had a trick up his sleeve.

The dragoon began to spin his lance around him, energy trailing off the spearhead and soon entrapping him in six circles of red light that spun and swirled around like a matrix, red light bathing the dragoon, giving him the look of a demon imitating a dragon imitating a warrior. "Dragon Skill: Six Winding Dragons, Cherry Blossom Crest!"

He finished spinning his lance and began to shine with the same red light as the circles enshrouding him. Slowly, he began to hover into the air as the Nobodies, Fell Souls and Keybladers watched on in terror or awe. When the dragoon was around five-feet off the ground, the aura began to blaze with brilliant red light. "Now, I mark you to oblivion!" The red circles began to revolve faster and faster and they began to shoot several foot-long blades of red light down to the field, striking the enemies below him. When the circles faded, the dragoon swooped down from the air and swung his lance in a wide arc, destroying any remaining foes with a massive arc shaped energy slash.

When the attack ended, the dragoon gracefully floated to the ground and sighed loudly from exertion. He dropped his lance before sitting down and removing his helmet, revealing a crop of shaggy dark blue hair and small brown eyes inset in a narrow face. He turned his head to Sora and the others and nodded upon seeing them. "Oh, almost didn't notice you guys there. Too much of a battle high."

When the group approached the warrior they could see that despite his skill in arms and menacing appearance in his armour he was actually a normal teenager. He couldn't have been older than 17, around 5'11" in height and was rather skinny when you saw past the armour he wore. When the group approached him he narrowed his eyes at Sora and Kairi, a flash of recognition sparking in his eyes.

"You two, you are Sora and Kairi correct?" The two teens nodded and the dragoon looked over to the other four members of the party. "And Roxas and Namine, their Nobodies." He said to the blondes, not the least bit of fear in his voice when he recognized them for former Nobodies or the fact that they were disembodied from Sora and Kairi. "And Claudio and Rain." He looked at the last two and they nodded as well. "I'm Waltz Highwynder." He extended a gauntleted hand and clasped it with Sora's own gloved hand.

"Nice to meet you Waltz." Replied Sora with his normal happiness and smile but Waltz made no smile or motion to the Keyblader. "So, how do you know who we all our?"

"Being a soldier at Disney Castle gets me a few privileges concerning new and the King's business." He looked the group over once more. "I'm able to get information when he contacts the Queen so that is why I know all of you." He then looked directly at Sora. "You'll have to excuse me for not gushing and fawning over you, Keyblade Master. I don't believe a warrior deserves praise until I can judge him in battle myself."

"And what do you think of me?" Sora asked hopefully. Waltz turned his head in a snobbish motion.

"So far I'm not impressed." He sniffed. "Maybe it was all hype or something." Sora deflated instantly and let out a pent up sigh of exasperation. Kairi instinctively placed her hand on his back and started to pat it.

"Waltz," spoke Rain to the less than impressed teenager. "Those attacks you used, and that fighting style. You're a Dragoon aren't you?" Waltz nodded hesitantly. "How is that possible? I thought the Dragoon order died out years ago."

Waltz eyed Rain for a second before answering. "They were. Are world was attacked by the Heartless, we Dragoons were the first line of defence and nearly all of my brethren fell. Except for two." He paused and sighed sadly, that sadness softening the features on his hard, narrow face. "My parents survived and managed to make it here to Disney Castle along with me. They trained me in the art of the Dragoon, a profession the Highwynder family has had for more than a dozen generations. I was twelve when they died, two years shy of completing my training. But I promised them that I would learn to fight and be a Dragoon and restore the Order to its once great stature. I learned how to fight from their text books and completed my training as well as I could."

"And now you serve Disney Castle?" Kairi asked and Waltz nodded. The sadness still touched his face and she could see that telling the story hurt him, the last Dragoon.

The sadness that etched his face and danced in his eyes made him look older than the teenager he was. Telling the story had deflated him too and without the haughty air and cold attitude around him he looked smaller, even with his armour on.

All of this sadness vanished in a second when Waltz rose up from his seat, snatching his spear and helmet in one fluid motion and walking away from the Keybladers. He turned back and spoke to them.

"By the way, what were those creatures?" Waltz asked the group, anyone who would listen. "I've encountered Heartless before but the only time they were in the Castle was four months ago when Pete and Maleficent tried to steal the Cornerstone."

"The white and grey creatures were Nobodies." Roxas answered back. "The other ones, the one's with the cross made of hearts, are called Fell Souls."

"And why were they in the Castle?"

"Nobodies and Fell Souls don't have hearts so the Cornerstone had no effect." Claudio said with his usually lazy reply. "You know, for such a skilled and haughty warrior you're pretty misinformed here." Waltz turned around and shot an evil glare at Claudio through his dragon helm with his hard eyes.

"You looking for a fight?" Waltz flared. In a flash, he twirled his spear around and Claudio swung High Streak off his shoulder and snatched Low Cut from his holster.

"Now, question for you Dragoon boy." Claudio smirked, craning his neck around to work out the kinks in it. "You may be able to stab faster than I can cut, but can you dodge a bullet four feet away from your face? Or maybe, can you stab with that little fire poker faster than I can hew through one of your cheap little metal trinkets?" Waltz narrowed his eyes even more, nearly closing them, but the rage still flowed from them.

"Hey there, hold up!" Sora shouted the two out of their focus, running in between their paths. "Aren't we all on the same side? Shouldn't we be figuring out on who sent the Nobodies and Fell Souls here and why?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Claudio said, eyes still on Waltz. "Who are the only ones who control the Nobodies and Fell Souls? This is the business of the Immortals and no one else." Quiet fell upon the courtyard as the two

"Okay, is the coast clear?"

The voice was a mumble and came out of the clear blue sky. Everyone stopped focusing on Waltz and Claudio and peered around the courtyard for the source of the mumble. Out of one shadowed ravelled corner, tiptoed a man out of the shrubs, shifty eyes looking all over the place but seemingly not noticing the group of heroes. The man wore black acid-washed jeans and black leather boots, a studded leather belt around the pants. He wore a black shirt that had two brown belts crossing him in an X over the shirt. He also had a torn white vest on with a hood blowing loosely behind him and several bracers and bracelets on his skinny arms, which were carrying a guitar case. Headphones wrapped around his neck and, under his short spiky brown-blonde hair.

He made his way through the courtyard, oblivious to Sora, Waltz and the others, moving in what could be described as a mockery of spy movies and super sleuths. Once, when he whipped around in a 180, the group could see a black splintered heart on the back of his vest. He walked past Namine and Kairi, coming within two feet of the two girls before he noticed the seven warriors out of the corner of his eye.

"Nuts," the Immortal swore. "God, how could I miss you guys? And how did you get past all those Nobodies and Fell Souls?"

"You were the one who summoned those beasts?" Waltz said sharply. The Immortal went a little pale before nodding weakly. "What are you? Tell me now!"

"This, my friend, is an Immortal," explained Claudio with a matter-of-fact air around him. "And that is a good question, how did you not notice us?"

The Immortal missed the semi-implied sarcasm and looked at Claudio strangely. "Listen, you don't want to mess with me. I'm Starxys, the Eleventh-Ranked Immortal."

"'Eleventh'?" Roxas repeated. "Aren't there only twelve Immortals? So, you pretty much are the second weakest of the Immortals?"

"Hey, that hurt." Starxys said dejectedly. "You didn't have to be so mean blondie."

"What is up with this guy?" Sora scoffed at the apparent whimpiness of the Immortal. So far, all the Immortals he met were powerful contenders but Starxys didn't seem so keen on fighting, even less keen than Creed.

"Does this guy remind you of someone?" Namine asked Roxas and Sora.

"Enough talk!" Waltz barked, marching past everyone else to take the front rank. "This man was the one who threatened Disney Castle. I think as a reward, I'm going to test this so-called immortality of his."

"Is there anyway that you could just let me past without a fight or any sort of conflict?" Asked Starxys weakly.

"NO!" All seven warriors replied.

"Man," moaned the Immortals. Reach into his pockets he pulled out a pair of fingerless gloves, which he put on, and a guitar pick. "Creed was right, you guys are a drag." He unzipped his guitar case and pulled out a large red and black guitar branded with the Immortal's symbol. The guitar appeared to be lacking strings but with a tap of his pick, five lines of purple energy flickered across the entire body of the guitar.

"Let's rock!" He strummed a single chord on the guitar and the air began to ripple with the heavy metal sound. For a second Sora felt a wave of exhaustion and nausea wash over him, but he ignored it and charged in, oblivious to the feeling he felt a moment ago. He could see that the others must have felt the same thing as Claudio and Roxas charged with him after a moment of hesitation. Both Waltz and Rain stumbled and looked dazed but soon regained their composure and joined the charge. Kairi and Namine were the unlucky ones, as they pretty much collapsed, apparently exhausted from the magical, sound-based compulsion of Starxys.

The five standing warriors continued their strike against Starxys who stayed still but began to play a tune on his guitar. Purple light surrounded him and soon, Starxys vanished and was replaced by five clone of him. They moved around and played the guitar as well, the sound of the tune filling the air. Every once in a while, the clones would flicker and vanish only to reappear in different places all together. Sora charged one and slashed with Oblivion but it cut right through the clone, causing it to vanish and two more to appear around Sora. He eyed them before feeling a sharp pain in his leg. He gasped and grasped his left leg, seeing a shallow cut on it. When he looked up he could see the clones were in different places.

The battle continued on like that, the heroes would strike the clones only to cause them to multiply and in a rhythmic pattern, summon would be struck be an invisible force and the clones would appear in different places. All throughout, the tune Starxys played at the beginning was still playing.

Claudio saw what was going on and took a pair of headphones and a discman out of his jacket; glad he had them for once. He placed them over his head and selected a song to play. Once the song began, all the clones vanished and Claudio could see Starxys sneaking up on Kairi, still playing the guitar. Claudio quickly charged the real Starxys and smashed him with the flat of his blade, stopping the din of the rock tune and sending Starxys flying away.

"What just happened?" Namine asked, bewildered like the others, as when Starxys stopped playing, the clones vanished and he came into view.

"That song he played messed with our heads." Claudio stated, putting away his discman and headphones. "It travelled up the ear canal and entered our brains, attacking the part of the head that configures to vision to make him invisible and make us see those clones. When they vanished it was because he momentarily stopped playing on his guitar to attack us."

Starxys clambered up, groaning in pain from the blunt edge strike. "Damn. I really shouldn't be doing this. I told Cassius not to send me here." Starxys looked up to see the warriors still in battle stance, ready to fight. "You're still not letting me pass, right?"

"Not a chance, buddy." Roxas retorted to the Immortal.

Starxys nodded in understanding before making the devil horns with his left hand. "That's fine. You guys got me in a fighting move." He strummed a quick chord on the guitar. "Power Bolt!" He played a series of lightning fast power chords and with each one several bolts of energy flew from the energy guitar strings, hurtling at the heroes.

Everyone dodged in every direction as the purple energy blasts darted all around the courtyard. Before anyone could react, Starxys played a quick riff on his guitar and at the end; he began to press down on the whammy bar with incredible speed and precision.

"Echo Clones!" The air around Starxys began to waver and shimmer, creating several copies of the guitarist, each one carrying their guitars in a different stance than the others. Starxys and his clones then played yet another guitar riff, eschewing the whammy bar and letting the last note of the riff hang in the air. "Jazzed Edge!" The string's energy intensified and it caused the head of each guitar to be covered in an aura of energy, taking the shape of some sort of blade.

"How much you wanna bet those aren't illusions like last time?" Roxas muttered to Sora. His theory was soon proved correct when one of the clones charged Waltz, the guitar's aura taking the form of an axe-head. The energy blade contacted with Waltz's spear who instantly threw the clone off and swung with a wide arc, the blade hitting the body. The clone's body flickered transparent for a second before turning solid and striking Waltz with the axe-head, trimming off a part of Waltz's dragon helm.

The other clones followed suite and attacked the others with guitars encased in energy axes, scythes, spears and swords. Sparks flared when the melee weapons contacted with each other but nothing the heroes did seemed to eliminate the clones. They would flicker for a second but no harm came from them no matter what they did. Sword strikes, magic, Dragon Skills, 7 Rose Draws, Prism Chain Arts and anything else they threw at Starxys did nothing against his army of clones.

"Damn it!" Roxas cursed in frustration. "We got to find a way to end this! If it goes on for much longer, we'll be in a lot of trouble."

"I think to stop the clones we have to find the real Starxys." Came Namine, equally frustrated and breathless as her Nobody kin.

"Easier said than done." Rain noted as she fended off two Starxys clones with scythe energy heads. "These clones keep moving, we'll never find him."

A light bulb flashed in Kairi's head as she heard the conversation. "Claudio! Claudio!" She called to her ex-bodyguard to get his attention. "I need you to use that Chain Art combo you used on the island. You know, the one that involves Low Cut."

Claudio nodded and said. "Okay, but give me a second, I have to load five bullets. Dragoon boy! Cover me!" He planted High Streak into the ground and took out five bullets from his belt. He rolled out the barrel and started to place each bullet in the barrel. While this was going on, Waltz begrudgingly stepped up to fend off the clones with his lance.

With Low Cut fully loaded, Claudio spun the barrel once for luck and then bounded to the castle walls, leaping off of it and into the air. He began to shoot all eighteen bullets at the Immortal copies below, each one of his targets flickering and fading with every shot that hit. When he was done, a current of gold and red energy gathered around him and his fired bullets. "Prism Chain Arts, Blasting Style: Bullet Counterflux!" The bullets zoomed from the lawn to around his airborne body, some piercing the Starxys figments. "Eighteen bullets become thirty-six! Prism Chain Arts, Blasting Style: Bullet Flux Rebound!"

He spun around to diffuse the bullets swarming around him and sending them into the figments once more. This time there was a sound of bullet zooming into human flesh and in a streak of crimson, all the clones vanished, leaving the real Starxys alone, holding onto his arm with a fresh, weeping red bullet hole on his arm.

"Damn it!" Starxys groaned, nursing his wound. "Damn it! That's twice you got me!" He stuck out an accusing finger to the now grounded Claudio. "You really are a bastard, you know that?"

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Claudio replied in an annoyed and sarcastic tone.

Starxys groaned a comment, testing his injured arm before returning to combat stance. "Looks like I'll need some assistance on this one." He played a quick series of notes on the guitar and several Dancer Nobodies and Enigma and Cutlass Fell Souls were summoned to the field. He then played a riff similar to the one before his 'Jazzed Edge' attack but it was longer and more complex. "Jazzed Edge: Encore!" His guitar instantly transformed into a massive executioner-style great axe. He twirled its haft around in his hand and smiled.

"Let us play it one more time!" He declared in a singsong voice and his Nobody and Fell Souls charged the heroes, Starxys staying back and the heroes meeting the charge. The summoned minions were in such a small force that Sora managed to slip by them almost unnoticed as the other dealt with them. Both Namine and Roxas had also gotten past the charge, he saw.

The three Keybladers charged Starxys who blocked the four blades with his massive guitar turned axe and then pushed the three off of him. He went for Namine first who spun away from the axe blade and countered with several precise swings from the Blooming Radiance Keyblade. Sparks flew as they entered a pushing match with their blades, Namine eventually loosing as her footing slipped and Starxys nearly decapitated her with a massive swing of his axe.

Roxas charged in, leaping over Namine to get within Starxys' guard after his huge swing. With nothing to defend his body from a trashing at hands of the blonde Nobody, Starxys feebly kicked Roxas in the shin, causing him to trip as Starxys sidestepped the stumble. He approached the downed Roxas and swung downward repeatedly with his axe, Roxas being forced to roll each attack or the axe would end up being buried in his chest and not the lawn around him. Getting annoyed with Roxas' antics, Starxys kicked him in the ribs halfway through a roll and reared the axe over his head to bring it down into Roxas.

Starxys was forced to stumble over the blonde like a buffoon, hitting the lawn while cursing. Sora and Namine stood behind him with still smoking Keyblades from their twin Firaga spells. Sora was the next one to charge, Oblivion swinging low to the ground. Starxys agilely dodged the low shot and lanced at Sora, his axe now transformed back into a guitar, and ending up hitting the flat of Oblivion. Starxys leapt away and played a few chords on his guitar, energy bolts flying at the three warriors. Several disc-like energy blades came next and both Roxas and Sora ducked the blades. But Namine was a different story.

She tried to weave away but it was a feeble attempt as the blades swerved and nearly took her head off. Namine craned her neck at the last minute and the energy discuses passed through her hair instead of her neck. When the attack finished she saw that her was now trimmed so it was haphazardly cut around the nape of her neck and cheekbone, Sora couldn't help but think she looked like a blonde Yuffie. Namine looked at the sheared blonde tresses in horror before looking at Starxys with hell burning in her eyes with a look that would make most men cringe in terror.

Starxys cringed in terror.

"That son of a bitch!" Namine spoke the out-of-character curse. "He cut my hair!"

"That son of a bitch! He cut your hair!" Roxas yelled at Starxys too, giving him a death stare that nowhere matched Namine's.

Starxys looked at the pair of angry blonde teenagers with fear in his eyes and a quivering lip. "This isn't going to end well for me, is it?" The Immortal blinked dubiously at the teens.

"Let's get him." Namine said with malice tipping her tongue.

Roxas hurled Guardian Soul at Namine's urging, the thrown Keyblade colliding with Starxys' guitar, sending it flying into the air. As the musician Immortal fumbled with his instrument, Roxas came running up and hit a baseball slide to his ankles, tripping the Immortal and sending him sprawling to the ground, his head slamming into the ground and his guitar landing on his head. As Starxys clambered to his knees, Namine came running up and smashed her knee into Starxys' face and then slammed the hilt of Blooming Radiance into the back of his neck. The Immortal rolled away and smacked the back of his head against the wall of the castle. He sat up, stars swirling around his head.

"Damn…" He said weakly. Unfortunately, he was given no reprieve as Namine stood in front of him and aimed her Keyblade at Starxys.

"THUNDAGA!!" Namine unleashed several bolts of lightning from the tip of her Keyblade, all of which struck Starxys dead-on the chest. His body shook and twitch violently as thousands of volts of electricity coursed through his body. When the magic onslaught ended, Starxys was left crumbled and smoking with burns all over his body.

"Did you have any idea that Namine was that violent, Kairi?" Sora asked his girlfriend, his voice quiet and in awe at Namine's display of vengeance and power.

The fighting against the small fry enemies was long finished and Kairi had seen the entire spectacle. "I had no idea." Kairi answered, her voice equally quiet.

"Rain, remind me to never piss Nam off." Claudio advised his wife as he stared slack-jawed at the heavily damaged Immortal.

"Even if I told you, you would forget and piss her off anyways." Rain mumble back but no one heard it.

Roxas and Sora advanced up to the injured Starxys and placed the tips of their Keyblades at his throat. The Immortal snapped out of his daze at the sight of the blades and his skin turned whiter than the walls of the castle behind him.

"H-hey guys." The guitarist said weakly, looking as if he was going to vomit or pass out any second from now. "Sorry about, you know, the whole trying to kill you thing and," he looked directly at Roxas, "chopping off your girlfriends hair." He then looked at Namine who still was glaring at him with murderous fury. "I think it looks good, real trendy. You look cute with it." He grovelled meekly, failing to lighten her disposition.

"Okay, shut up and spill it!" Sora pressed. "Why are you here? Or more importantly, how are you here? The Cornerstone of Light prevents people with darkness in their hearts from entering the castle."

"Don't remind me," groaned Starxys, rolling his eyes. Sora pressed the tip of Oblivion harder into Starxys' throat, a tiny red welt of blood showing up. If possible, Starxys went even whiter. "What I mean is…uh…could you move your Keyblade back an inch or two?" His eyes were fixated on the blades pressed at his neck. Neither Sora nor Roxas complied.

"Okay then…why I am here. Its kind of what I was created for."

"What do you mean created?" Claudio eyed the Immortal strangely. "How could an Immortal have his powers mapped out for him before he's been created?"

"It was all Tall…I, uh, I mean – aw damn it!" Starxys became to reprimand himself in a muffled voice. All the heroes could do was watch with wide eyes as the Immortal began to have and inner dialogue with himself fuelled by insults.

"Have any of you known or fought someone this annoying before?" Claudio asked the group in an irritated voice.

"Demyx." Roxas said.

"Demyx." Said Namine.

"Demyx" Said Sora.

"Demyx." Kairi said. Sora turned to her after her answer.

"How do you know Demyx?"

"Oh, well when I was captured by the Organization, he was watching my cell one night. He mostly just played his sitar, a really good musician I have to say. But when he stopped playing he talked non-stop." Kairi rolled her eyes at the memory. "Complaining about some mission to the Underworld like a little baby."

Waltz sounded an irritable growl. "Enough with this stupid prattle." The dragoon paced forward to Starxys, knocking Roxas and Sora aside as he did.

"What's the big idea?" Roxas shouted by Waltz just marched onward

He throttled Starxys by the throat and tossed him to the lawn. Starxys began to crawl away like a meagre little worm before Waltz threw his spear, piercing through his collar and staking him to the ground. Waltz marched up to the prone Immortal and ripped the spear out of the ground, aiming the spearhead at his own.

"You have five minutes to explain yourself before I run you through with my lance!" Threatened the dragoon, blood fading from the guitarist once more.

"Okay…like I said I was created by a more senior Immortal." Starxys explained, actually managing to get words through his chattering teeth. "And I was designed to, y'know, not have darkness in my heart. I was made to be the perfect infiltrator into Disney Castle."

"You were…created?" Namine's gaze at Starxys had softened quite a bit, a pang of sympathy actually resonating in her voice. "Like, in a lab?"

"Yep," nodded the musical Immortal. "Just like Creed."

Sora began to question the Immortal. "What do you mean by-" But he was cut off by the high-strung Waltz.

"You've answered my question. Now, get up!" Everyone looked confused at the command barked by the Dragoon. "You may be an annoying gnat but you still deserve to die a warrior's death, with a weapon in your hands." Waltz took his stance. "Now, get up, raise your arms in battle and fight!"

"What are you doing?" Claudio fumed at the young Dragoon. Waltz paid him no heed until Claudio grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him. "He's an Immortal, this is no time to act gallant and show honour."

"Even if he is a so-called Immortal, he deserves a better death than those foul Heartless." Waltz barked back, shoving Claudio off of him and eyeing each of the six alien warriors harshly. "Now, each and everyone of you stay out of my path. I am a defender of Disney Castle and as such I will defend it myself."

"What's your problem buddy?" Sora asked the Dragoon but he paid no mind to the Keyblade Master. "Did you hear me? I asked-"

"I heard you!" Snapped the other teen. "I heard but I don't care. You may be the Keyblade Master but this is now my home world and it is mine to defend! Not yours! My duty, my responsibility, my life, my world! So back off." Waltz turned away from Sora and the others, enraptured in the argument, and back to Starxys…

Only to find that he was no longer there!

"Oh ladies and gentlemen!" Starxys called. He was now right by the entrance to the castle! "It's seems you haven't forgotten about me. So, for you devotion I'm about to play you my number one hit!" He played a single note on the guitar before cranking on the volume. "Sonic Breakdown!" He played another note, the air rippling with its sound.

As soon as the sound hit their ears, everyone fell to the ground, clutching their heads and screaming their heads off. Although it looked comical when they fell, it was actually a painful experience. Sora knew what was happening to, sound waves were travelling down their ear canals and affecting their equilibrium, throwing them off balance. He also felt nausea roiling in his stomach. Over the piercing remnant of Starxys' note, Sora heard a retching and out of the corner of his eye glanced Kairi, Namine and Waltz kneeling and rolling before a puddle of their own vomit. That was too much for Sora as he felt his stomach lurch forward and vomited as well.

By the time the sound exited their ears and brains, all seven of them were on the ground, groaning in pain, agony and sickness. Any damage done passed over within the next five minutes but they felt the pain of being beaten by such a cheap attack. How could they block sound? They couldn't. But the pain was magnified when they noticed that Starxys had left the courtyard.

"Damn it!" Waltz growled a series of curses and punched the lawn repeatedly. "He got away." The teenage Dragoon then turned to Sora and growled at him. He bared his teeth and advanced menacingly to the Keyblader.

Kairi and Roxas managed to intercept him before he skewered the Keyblader. "Whoa, buddy back off!" Roxas warned the teen.

"Yeah, what's your damage anyways?" Kairi defended Sora. "So Sora made a mistake, big deal! He's just human. We can still get him in time!"

"No we can't missy!" Waltz hissed threateningly. "He's inside the castle right now and – the Queen!" Waltz's eyes went from an angered narrow look to wide-eyed and shocked. Sora realized what he was getting at. Queen Minney was most likely in the castle right now.

Waltz spun on his heel and turned to the castle doors. "I'll deal with you buffoons later. Right now, I have a duty to perform!"

"Damn it, that guy has a real chip on his shoulder." Claudio growled a whisper at the retreating Dragoon.

"I know," Sora agreed with the older warrior. "But we have to see to the Queen too! If Starxys is in the castle it could be bad." The other nodded and followed at Waltz's heels but all seven were soon stopped by two brown critters running up to meet them.

"Chip? Dale?" Sora bent down to get a good look at the tiny Gummi engineers. "What's up?"

"It's terrible! It's horrible!" Dale shouted.

"Someone's in the castle! You got to come now!" Chip heeded. Both were hyped up and bouncing up and down.

"Is the Queen safe?" Waltz asked the two chipmunks, authority ringing naturally in his voice.

"She's okay." Chip assured.

"She'd locked herself in the throne room with Merlin and Lady Daisy." Dale continued.

"But the guy…he got by and was heading for the door to the past." Chip fretted.

"The door to the…" Sora trailed off, remembering what had happened the last time someone used that door and the results that almost happened. "We got to get moving guys. Now!" Sora darted to the door and his companions followed quickly, with Chip and Dale coming after them. Waltz was left in the yard, a little disoriented.

"Wait a minute. Door to the past?" Waltz asked no one in particular. "What the hell is that? What is going on?" The teenage Dragoon dashed to catch up with the four humans, two Nobodies and two chipmunks, who were already in the castle.

**KHKHKH**

The crew, along with Waltz and led by Chip and Dale, rushed into the throne room of Disney Castle, passing along several dog-faced knights that reminded everyone of Goofy, all of whom were rushing in the opposite direction, clearly mobilizing for some threat. When they entered the throne room they found Merlin, unchanged from their visit to Avalon, along with Queen Minney Mouse.

"Your Majesty!" Waltz darted ahead from the group and stopped just as quick, kneeling before Minney, head to the floor. "What specifically has happened, Your Majesty?"

"He got into the door to the past." Sora said matter-of-factly. The two members of the Disney court nodded in agreement and Waltz rose to speak to the Keyblader.

"What is this door to the past?"

"I believe I can explain that Waltz, m'boy." Merlin came forth, stroking his beard. "As you know, four months ago the Heartless invaded the Castle and Pete tried to steal the Cornerstone of Light for Maleficent." Waltz nodded in understanding.

"In order to do this," Minney continued for the wizened wizard, "Pete managed to find a door that led to the past. Disney Castle in the past to be exact. In order to combat this, Merlin created our own door so Sora, Donald and Goofy could travel back in time and stop Pete."

"Yes, yes," Merlin mumbled, still stroking his beard. "I'm afraid that I never did close the door, so busy what with the return of Avalon and all…" The wizard began to trail off and Waltz slammed his fist into the palm of his hand.

"Then that must be it!" Everyone looked at the teenage Dragoon. "This Starxys person must be using the door to get the Cornerstone!"

"That's a good analysis," came Claudio from the back of the group. "But Starxys can wonder through the Castle freely as he pleases. He doesn't need to travel to the past to nab the Cornerstone, he could do it in the here and now."

"Maybe that's why he went down there." Sora said. "The door to the past is located in the Hall of the Cornerstone. It is easy to see if we could get his objective confused." The others mumbled in agreement.

"A good theory Sora," Merlin agreed, "but not true. When we went to check on the Cornerstone, it was untouched and that scoundrel had just leapt into the door to the past."

"So what could Starxys want in the past?" Roxas pondered aloud. It was at this time that the Queen noticed the large gathering in the room.

"Um, excuse me," the Queen piped up. "But, Sora who are all these people, and who is this Starxys person you all keep speaking of?"

"Oh, well Your Majesty, this is Claudio and Rain," Sora motioned to the warriors, who each bowed in turn, "my girlfriend," the word felt weird on his tongue, "Kairi, and our Nobodies, Roxas and Namine." The last three in the group bowed before Minney.

"And Starxys is an Immortal," Kairi brought forward. "He is apart of the group that we and the others are fighting." Minney nodded.

"Yes, the King talked about them in his last letter." She said in a worried tone. "Apparently he, Donald, Goofy and Terra are going to spy on their main base of operations. Them and Maleficent and her group."

Claudio also nodded. "So that is where they went. Dangerous business doing that."

"Enough of this talk!" Waltz barged in to the conversation. "I do not to be rude in front of you Your Majesty, but every second we waste here, that creep Starxys gets another second to mess around in the past! I need to be led to this door so I can deal with him immediately!"

"And what makes you think you get to do the hero business?" Roxas asked, indignantly. "Last time I checked, we were the ones who do that stuff!"

"This isn't the time to argue!" Namine yelled, forcefully at the bickering Keyblader and Dragoon. "Waltz is right, we need to move now and stop Starxys right now! All seven of us should go. That way, we have the better chance at beating him."

The others took in Namine's words and agreed with the blonde. Merlin coughed and motioned to a set of stairs beside the throne. "I will lead you all down to the door."

Before anyone else could take a step, a loud scrabbling sound could be heard echoing through the halls outside the throne room. The doors to the room burst opened and the redheaded Chocobo Knight darted into the room, Claudio taking and instinctive step backwards as the Chocobo crossed his path. The knight halted his mount and leapt off of the bird, to kneel before the Queen.

"You Majesty, Sir Waltz." The knight began, breathing exhaustedly, huffing and puffing though a face as red as his hair. "The Castle… the town… everywhere…enemies…"

"What?" Waltz said in his commanding voice. "What is happening?"

"Heartless, Nobodies, Fell Souls, we need you and the knights to mobilize." Waltz' face scrunched up into a disappointing frown before his military experience overtook it.

"Very well. Send a platoon of knights here to guard the Queen. Master Merlin, I need you to set up your magical barriers to protect her as well. I will lead a group of warriors into the battle. You six go back in time and stop Starxys." The group was a bit taken aback.

"Waltz?" Sora was extremely confused. Waltz definitely seemed like a guy out for glory and honour, he was hardheaded, stubborn, confrontational, and didn't seem like an overall great guy. But he was choosing to possibly sacrifice his life so the others could stop Starxys. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why do you think?" He barked to the other teen. "To preserve Disney Castle! I am much more use here than fighting that annoying Immortal. I am a soldier and a commander, you, as your Nobody said, our the heroes."

Sora tried to argue again but Claudio stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know that you don't want him to throw his life away, but he's following his heart, we can't interfere with that." Remembering King Mickey had said something similar at the World That Never Was, Sora nodded and turned to Waltz.

"Okay Waltz," replied Sora. "You do what you have to do and we will stop Starxys in the past."

"See that you do." Waltz turned harshly. "I'll send an honour guard to you immediately, Your Majesty." He bowed to Queen Minney and then turned to Sora and the others, nodded stiffly, and marched out of the room with long, measured strides.

"Now," Roxas came forth. "About this door to the past…"

"Right, right you are Roxas!" Merlin shouted, walking to the stairwell beside the thrown. The others followed the frantic wizard down to the Hall of the Cornerstone. Merlin walked to a floating white door in the center of the room and tapped it with his wand, the doors swinging open to reveal a black and white swirl.

"Now, off you go," Merlin then looked sternly through his spectacles at the group. "But remember Sora, and a warning to you all, you are going to the past." The wizard warned them "Make sure that whatever you do, you do not do anything that was not suppose to happen in the past."

"But, and this is just hypothetical, what if we meet, say, Maleficent or Xehanort or Cassius?" Claudio asked. "Are we allowed to rub 'em out for the sake of the future?" Merlin's face grew sterner in a flash.

"Like I said," the wizard repeated, infuriated by Claudio. "If it was not suppose to happen in the past then do not do it or let Starxys do it!" Claudio nodded lazily but Merlin kept going on. "You may have the desire to eliminate a person that you know will cause a great disaster to the worlds in the future but you never know what will happen to the present by eliminating that person."

"Jeez, bite my head off…" Claudio muttered under his breath.

Sora stepped in front of the swirling portal. "C'mon, we got to get going! Who knows what Starxys has planned."

The six gathered in front of the door and stared at the black and white and grey swirls inside the portal.

"This probably won't go well for us, will it?" Roxas asked darkly.

"Most times, no. Stuff like this never goes well for the good guys." Rain answered just as darkly. "But who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and be the first ones."

"Not with our luck." Claudio commented even darker than the other two.

"Well, we better get it over with…" Roxas said in a dour voice. The six lined up, readied themselves and then leapt in to the portal, first was Sora followed by Kairi, Namine, Rain, Roxas and Claudio.

When all six of them entered the door, it slammed shut and shook violently. Merlin looked at the door with a worried look, stroking his beard nervously.

"By Job, I do hope they can fix whatever is going wrong back there."

**KHKHKH**

Terra cringed as Goofy bumped into Donald. Again.

He sighed to himself as he began to realize that sneaking around with the wizard and knight of Disney would be about as subtle as taking a baseball to the forehead. He leaned back against a wall, careful as to not scratch himself on one of the spiky thorns covering nearly all of The Castle That Never Was. Terra had been to the Castle a few times before, as had Mickey, Donald and Goofy, and although the Castle could never be defined as downright "cheery", there was an air of elegance within the alien architecture and pure white walls that defined Xemnas' former headquarter. What Maleficent had done to it was nothing short of criminal, covering it in malign darkness and overgrown thorns.

_If Xemnas could see this place now,_ Terra mused to himself before looking around the hall way that led to Maleficent's throne room, the former meeting place of the Organization, The Place Where Nothing Gathers. _If he saw this place he would probably do some "redecorating" with his aerial blades. Him and that lunatic freak Saix and his claymore. And his element, what was up with that? Moon? Since when is moon an element?_

Terra's train of thought was broken when the hollering of Donald, the meek apologies of Goofy and the gentle reprisals of King Mickey came rushing into his head. He slapped both his palms onto his face and sighed into them. This was definitely a bad idea.

_Just wait until we have to go to Infinity Paradiso._ A voice in his head reminded him.

"Listen up you three," Terra began to the squabbling residents of Disney, "Why not, for the rest of this journey, have just me and the King go on ahead. You two can hold down the fort, how about that?" He tried to flash a sincere smile but he knew it failed. He was always bad at acting.

"Uh, I guess that's okay Mr. Terra." Goofy replied. "But do you mind tellin' us why we're doin' this now?"

"Because you're a loud, clumsy oaf!" Donald squawked in.

Goofy covered his mouth with both hands. "Oops, sorry Donald. Didn't mean for that."

"Don't apologize when you haven't done anything!" Donald leapt into the air and began his squabbling all over again.

Terra hung his head and groaned, just silent enough to not be heard over the duck's garbled yelling. "Just stay here and be quiet, okay." He said in a sardonic voice, sick of dealing with the two. "Come on, your Majesty."

"Okay Terra, but let us not stay to much longer here." The mouse king looked around with a worried look in his eyes. "This place still gives me the creeps." The knight and the king walked away.

The knight and wizard of Disney looked around and they both sighed, leaning up against the wall and sliding down into a sitting position.

"Man, this mission is so boring." The duck mage complained in a resigned voice. "Not anything like our journeys with Sora. Not that I miss the kid or anything."

"I wonder what he's doin' right now?" Goofy pondered aloud. Both pressed hands (or wings) to their chins (or beaks) and began to think. "You think he's made any new friends at all?"

"You mean besides that pipsqueak Elric kid?" (And at that moment, somewhere in the darkness of space, Edward felt his ears burning, as if someone was insulting his height) "Knowing Sora, he'll probably make like 50 new friends in less than a week." The two fell into a silence of consideration over their past adventures with the Keyblade Kid and all the friends they had made in their travels.

"OW!" Goofy yelped, breaking the silence. "I touched a thorn!" The dog-faced knight began to suck on a bleeding finger.

Donald sighed a garbled sighed. "And the more things change, the more they stay the same…"

Up ahead in the hallway, both Terra and Mickey were walking towards Maleficent's meeting room.

"So, why are we here spying on Maleficent, old friend?" Mickey asked the much taller knight.

Terra shook his head disapprovingly. "Did I not tell you two months ago when we started to plan this not to call me that?"

"Why not?" The King of Disney asked.

"I do not want to reveal everything to everyone until the time is right." He paused for a second, thinking about what his orders were exactly. "Actually, truth be told, I'm not allowed to reveal everything for awhile now." He smiled and his tone changed to someone who had just met an old friend and was catching up with him.

"So, what is new with you?" He then added with a cheeky smile, "old friend."

The King smiled as well. "Too much has happened since we all last met. How long ago was it?"

The knight stopped walking and placed his hands on his hips. "Twenty-five years. And now, everything is starting to come full circle." He began to walk again, this time in a hurried pace with long strides.

The King ran to keep up with him. "When will you tell Sora and the others?" Mickey huffed to the faster, longer-legged knight.

"Anywhere between half-a-year to a year." He answered quickly "It's too early at this moment. Why, right now Sora and his group have probably arrived at your world and Riku and the Elrics should be making landfall on Agrabah within the day." Silence then overtook the knight, his pace slowed down, he turned to Mickey and he pressed a single finger to his lips. He then motioned for him to follow to a doorframe where they splayed their bodies on either side of the door and tilted their heads into the doorway.

"…must understand, I need more time." They heard Maleficent's voice finish speaking to unknown guests, an unusual hint fear in it. "Two of my allies have abandoned me and two have been killed by that pesky Keyblader."

"That is what you get for allying with such weak and fickle pawns." A sophisticated male voice answered, unknown to either mouse or knight. "Who were they?"

"Davey Jones left for some vendetta against some drunken pirate and Mozenrath do to unknown reasons." Maleficent answered quickly and in an insulted tone at being commanded by the voice. "I only have Mr. Dark left and still need to acquire the Princesses Belle, Jasmine and Kairi."

"Always with the excuses Maleficent," the voice drawled, boredom ringing in his voice. "Our master and his apprentice grow weary of them." Terra's head perked up when he heard this and he mouthed a single word.

This didn't go unnoticed by the King who turned to Terra and whispered, "Terra, do you know who this man is?" Terra shook his head in reply.

A third voice rang into the conversation. "We are giving you ample time and yet you continue to fail us." This voice belonged to a woman with a silent, menacing voice containing an air of sophistication. "Our master requires the Princesses."

"Your master shall not take Kingdom Hearts from me!" Maleficent boomed with a terrifying echo.

For a second the room was illuminated with emerald fire and the king and knight caught a glimpse of the two voice's bodies, one man, one woman, each wearing a full-body black Organization cloak.

"Organization XIII?" Mickey asked in a hushed voice.

"Dunno." Terra lied, taking another look into the room he saw the intimidating display of emerald fire had ended and darkness covered the room again.

The figures weren't intimidated at all. "Do not think our master wants your pathetic door." The man scowled at the witch. "He is after the true power of Kingdom Hearts, he needs the Princesses for an ulterior motive."

"And do you mind telling me what that is?" Maleficent asked the two cloaked figures. "That wasn't a question! That was an order!"

The sizzling of a lightning bolt could be heard and the room and hall flashed blue for a moment. "Do not presume to order us Maleficent!" The woman roared, sophistication still enwrapping her voice. "If it wasn't for our orders we would kill you right now! Consider this your second-to-last warning, you will get two more visitors the next time and then the knight himself will come. And if you have not garnered all seven Princesses by then, you will die!" The echoing of footsteps and the warping sound of a portal of darkness could be heard and then silence fell in the throne room.

Terra let out a pent up breath. "Well, that was certainly enlightening." He commented, walking back down the way he had came.

"It was?" Mickey asked, confused by Terra's statement.

"Yes." He commented in a sharp tone. "Now, come on, we have to book a flight to the Severed Realm."

"And where is that? Actually, what is that?"

"It is where Immortals do dwell, old friend."

**To Be Continued**

_Not a bad chapter in my mind, it advances some plot points that will be important in the future and gives you all a brief glimpse as to what Terra, Mickey, Donald and Goofy have been up to._

_Waltz is an interesting character in my mind. Clearly based off classic Final Fantasy Dragoons like Ricard Highwind and Kain Highwind. I also wanted to create a Kingdom Hearts character that added a unique flavour to the series. So I made someone blunt, bull-headed, loud, self-righteous and not all too likeable at the start, but no worries, he will get slightly more likeable. Slightly._

_And as for Starxys…he's essentially the Demyx of the Immortals. And all those connections I made in the chapter were intentional, the whimpiness, the instrument for a weapon, the unwillingness to fight at first but the ability to kick ass later on. All advents Demyx brought to the table and now that Starxys is using. Not as interesting to right dialogue for like Creed and not as interesting in combat like Kaiser or Aeron but Starxys is still pretty cool._

_But what do you guys think? About Starxys, Waltz, anything, just drop a review and ask away. Please, please leave a review. Please?_

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	19. Swing Back to the Past

_Couple of things to talk about, first: E3. This years E3 has not been too impressive by my books. Besides a new God of War trailer and Final Fantasy XIII for the X-Box 360 (that killed me, honestly) all of the major games of the show had already been debuted months ago. The lack of any major information or playability for a Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts game was also disappointing. Not amazing this year, actually a little soul-crushing (damn 360…Square has sold its soul to the devil…effing Microsoft)_

_Next, I noticed that I have 23 authors, not unique authors just total authors, which have my story under either their Alerts or their Favourites. Yet I only have 19 reviews. I hate to push for reviews but if those people who have got my under Alerts or Favourites could spend 5 or 10 minutes to review, that would be pretty damn awesome._

_I'm here right now to clarify time and POV jumps. With the skipping between parties I feel I need to clarify it for you guys. Two chapters ago (Ch 17, The Dawn) the Elric Brothers/Riku segment on the Deep Jungle takes place two days after the Traverse Town segment in Ch 16. The segment with Sora's party in the same chapter takes place a few hours after the same Traverse Town segment. In this chapter and the last chapter, the Sora party segments take place a day after the Riku party segments in Ch 17, so around 3 days after the Trinity Sibling incident. The Terra/King Mickey segment last chapter also takes place around the same time as the beginning of Ch 18. Finally, the Riku party segment this chapter takes place a little less than 24 hours after this chapter, so around 2 days after Ch 17, and 4 days after Ch 16._

_Glad I sorted that out. _

Chapter 19: Swing Back to the Past

"OW! Whose elbow is in my back?"

"Get head out of my shoulder blades, Sora."

"Sfomefone's foot fis fin by douth!"

"What was that?"

Sora made a spitting sound. "Someone's foot was in my mouth!"

"EVERYONE GET OFF OF ME!!"

Claudio's explosion of rage forced his five other companions to be hurtled off of him and farther away from the door to the present. Everyone dusted their selves off and looked at their surroundings. Everything around them was in shades of black and white and grey and the entirety of the field they had landed looked as if it was a made with a hand-drawn, cartoony aspect about it. Even the group had changed in appearance; everyone was black and white, looked as cartoon-like as the landscape and had a few changes to their outfits. Sora had his original jacket and shorts, used to this look as he had been in the Timeless River before. Kairi was back to wearing he white tank top and purple skirt (of course, you couldn't tell it was purple) but still looked the same physically. Besides the overall aesthetic changes, Claudio, Namine, Rain and Roxas still looked the same.

Roxas checked himself over in his Timeless River attire. "Well this is certainly…" He wiggled his arm around in classic cartoon style. "…Different."

"You're right," noted Namine before gasping and covering her mouth with both hands. "Wow, we even sound different! All scratchy and…weird."

"Sora, you never told us how messed this world was!" Claudio griped, a little distraught at the new world form.

"How do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Well, we all look and sound like we're from a 1930's cartoon made by a man who not only sold out his brother, which no one ever hears about, but was also an anti-Semite." Claudio then looked up from his own hands and had a twinkle realization in his eyes. "Wait a minute! Everything makes sense now! The whole reason for everything is-"

Claudio was cut off when a familiar rumbling could be heard and the ground began to shake. Moments later, Claudio was trampled by a heard of cartoon black and white Chocobos. When he sat up, he was groaning with cartoon swirls replacing his eyes.

"Even in the past, I'm getting ran over by Chocobos…" He remarked wearily before chasing the cobwebs from his head.

"If you are done messing around," Rain said in a flat and unimpressed voice. "We have to get going and find Starxys, you big boob." Claudio looked at Rain with a longing look. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Okay dear, you can say it."

"Say what?" Kairi asked.

"I will never see a stranger sight, even if I live to be a hundred." Claudio noted. Rain rolled her eyes and the others just looked at him.

"What was that?" Sora asked. "Your catchphrase or something?"

Claudio shrugged lazily. "Kinda, if you wanna typecast it like that. But, what did you guys think?"

Roxas shrugged equally as lazily as Claudio. "Eh. I like 'Got it memorized' better." Claudio looked at him in the way as if he saying 'Where have I heard that before'.

"Come on, we got to get moving!" Urged Namine to the others. "We got to find Starxys and stop him fast!"

"Ah, you're just angry cause Starxys clipped off your hair." Roxas commented and Namine shot him a look of fire and daggers.

"She's right." Sora agreed, breaking the death stare. "Who knows what Starxys could be doing in right now?"

"Well, you're the time travel expert Sora," Kairi said. "Where do we go to?"

Sora assumed his usual casual stance, legs crossed, hands behind his head. "Beats me. I guess we could ask around if anyone has seen anything strange."

It was at this point that the group noticed that they were standing on a hill, the Cornerstone of Light being the focal point of the entire area. Construction tools were strewn about everywhere, with raw materials for walls and other stone objects and wooden frames of buildings set up over the hill as well. It looked like the citizens in the past were beginning construction on the castle.

"Well, nothing looks out of place." Sora said. "Heartless aren't running around, no one is screaming in terror. Looks rather peaceful." The group then heard a shrill, garbled yelling.

Claudio shook his head "Had to open your (bleep) mouth, didn't you?" He covered his mouth after finishing his sentence. "Did I just get bleeped?"

"I think so." Rain smirked at the fact that her husband couldn't swear.

"What the (bleep)?" Claudio tried to swear again. "Stupid (bleep)ing world, taking away my right to free speech." He grumbled to himself, barely registering the fact that the others had gone to investigate the yell they had just heard. As they crossed the hill they found a familiar duck and dog arguing about the usual trivial things.

"No, no, no!" Donald Duck screamed to Goofy. "We have to measure first and then cut." The duck was leaping and point at a poorly cut 2 by 4, which only had a short stub cut off of it…and it was cut off at a diagonal angle.

"Gawrsh, sorry Donald!" Goofy apologized, dropping the hammer in his hand on his foot. He yelped and began to jump around, holding his injured foot and bumping into Donald, knocking him down and earning yet another scream of anger.

Both Claudio and Roxas rolled their eyes at the antics of the future wizard and knight. "Now Goofy," Donald said impatiently from beneath the soon-to-be royal knight. "Why did you mess up that cut so bad?"

"Well Donald," he began. "I got distracted talking to this guy in white with a guitar." Everyone focused in on this statement. "I think he might have been a musician!"

Claudio nudged Sora in the ribs. "Sora, go talk to them."

"Why me?" The Keyblader asked.

"Well you do know them the best," Roxas brought up, "And I really don't want to talk to them."

"Yeah, I'm with Roxas." Rain agreed and Claudio nodded alongside her. Sora shook his head and walked to Donald and Goofy, his future allies.

"Um, hey," he began to grab the attention of the squabbling duo. "How are you guys doing?"

The two looked at him. "Can we help you with something?" Donald asked.

"Well I was wondering if Goofy could tell me what he talked about with the man he saw."

Donald turned to Goofy "How does he know your name? Have you met this guy before?"

Goofy put a finger on his chin and thought for a moment. "Um, nope Donald. Never seen him before." He then turned to Sora. "So, how is it you know my name?"

Sora replied without a second thought. "Oh, well I met-" Claudio and Roxas both rushed up and elbowed him in the gut. "Ow! What was that for?"

"You idiot!" Claudio whispered into his ear. "They haven't met you yet. You probably don't even exist at this point in time!"

"You can't tell them you know them," Roxas added. "We have no idea what effect it could have on the present."

"I thought this was the present." Sora replied.

"Their present, our past." Roxas corrected. "Our present, their future. Now be careful when you are speaking to these guys okay."

Sora nodded and turned back to the duck and the dog. "I just heard about you guys from a…satisfied customer?"

"Satisfied customer?" Donald repeated. "I dunno. It sounds fishy."

"How so Donald?" Goofy questioned.

"Sounds like he's fishing for an excuse." Donald then hit a realization. "I don't think we've ever had a satisfied customer."

Kairi stepped up to the plate. "So, could you tell us what you talked about with the man with the guitar."

"Oh, he wanted to know where Mickey was." Goofy replied.

"The King!" The six yelled out, not thinking about the consequences.

"No," Donald said. "His son." The group thanked the two and walked away to mull on their next move.

"That settles it then," Rain said. "Starxys is after the King."

"Well we know what he is after now." Namine pondered on a thought in her head. "But why is after him?" She asked

"And where is the King now?" Sora asked too.

"We could ask Tweedledee and Tweedledum." Claudio suggested flatly, pointing to Donald and Goofy. "But, somehow, they seem more annoying in the past than the present." He tsked aloud. "I honestly didn't think that was possible."

"Hey, they're nice guys Claudio!" Sora defended his former travelling mates. "You really shouldn't say stuff that could be consider hurtful to people."

"I know it was hurtful, Sora." Claudio replied. "That is kind of why I said it. Because I honestly don't like them."

"Well I think we should ask them!" Sora shot back before marching off, apparently the victor of the little verbal spat.

Claudio smirked at his chance to one-up the Keyblade Master. "Sure, use my idea." Sora stopped and deflated at Claudio's victory. The group then continued onto the two denizens of Disney, arguing once more.

"Um, guys?" Sora tried to get their attention but they were absorbed in their own argument complete with an overly choreographed scene of classic physical comedy. "Hello?" He tried again and failed. Roxas shook his head and stepped forward.

"Hey! Listen up you two!" The duck and the dog's attention was grabbed. "Your welcome." He said to Sora with a triumphant grin on his face.

"What do you guys want?" Donald squawked.

"Um…do you guys no where the K…I mean…where Mickey is?" The two shook their heads and Sora and the others let out a pent up sigh of frustration. Goofy turned away from the conversation and put his hand over his eyes like a visor.

"Actually, I think I see him now guys!" Goofy pointed to where he was looking, and sure enough, the past version of King Mickey was walking towards the group.

"Hey guys!" Mickey greeted cordially to his future advisors. The mouse turned to the six others. "Who are your new friends guys?"

"Well Mickey, these six are…um…" Goofy tried to think of any names but none were coming to mind. "And…I think he is…um…come to think of it, these guys never told us their names."

Sora quickly went to bat, again with out thinking beforehand. "Oh, well I'm So-"

Roxas clasped a hand over Sora's mouth and whispered into his ear. "Remember not to mess up the future, come up with some with some BS names, and fast!"

"Is anything wrong?" Mickey asked after seeing the odd scene of Roxas covering Sora's mouth and whispering to him.

"Oh, nothing!" Roxas said, retreating away from Sora.

"Anyways," Sora wiped his mouth off with his sleeve. "My name is…uh…"

_Don't use any lame food puns,_ Roxas prayed in his mind, _Don't use any lame food puns. For the love of God, don't use any lame food puns._

Sora continued to stammer. "It is…that is to say my name is…uh…Haley-Joel…Osment?"

Mickey blinked before saying. "Nice to meet you Haley-Joel," Sora released a pent up breath, "who are your friends?"

"I'm… Jesse McCartney." Roxas introduced himself.

"Brittany… Snow." Greeted Namine

"Kari Wahlgren." Said Rain.

"Vic Mignogna." Claudio said.

"And I'm… Hayden…Panettiere." Kairi finished.

"Nice to meet you all." The once-and-future king of Disney replied. Everyone let out a pent up breath, fearing that their hesitation and improvisational naming would cause some problems.

"So, Your Maje…er," Claudio, AKA Vic, stopped and thought his speech through. "(Bleep) this is tougher than I thought." He mumbled before turning back to Mickey. "So, did you happen to encounter a guy in white carrying a guitar?"

"Now that you mention it Vic, I had this weird feeling that I was being followed today." Mickey said. "Why do you ask? Is this guy a friend of yours?"

"Not at all." Rain quickly said. "We think he is here to do something bad to you guys."

Mickey blinked. "Why do you think that, Kari?"

"Well-" Both Kairi and Rain said at the same time. The other cringed at the flub but Namine quickly recovered for the two.

"We followed him from…another place." The now shorthaired blonde began. "He seemed really intent of reaching this place and when we talked to Goofy he said that Starxys asked questions about you."

"But we'll stop him, don't worry!" Roxas eased up the shaken mouse Prince. "We are warriors after all."

"Too bad you guys aren't good enough warriors."

The group whipped their heads around to see Starxys was behind them, guitar slung on his back. He had a smug look on his face, clearly proud of his defeat over the Keybladers earlier. Swivelling his head around, he looked beyond the Keybladers and his eyes fell over Donald, Goofy and Mickey. His smug smirk turned into a cruel smile.

Starxys then turned his attention to the Keybladers again. "Looks like time travel didn't help you guys in the looks department." The musician insulted. "You all look like a Saturday morning cartoon."

"Shut it Starxys!" Sora retorted, Oblivion flashing into life. "Spill it right now! Why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Starxys asked in a mocking tone. "If we Immortals can use myself to bypass the Cornerstone, then what else would I be here for?" No one gave an answer. "Jeez, take a clue. I'm here to wipe out the rat!" He pointed at Mickey.

"What?" The entire group called out in shock.

"That's right." Starxys confirmed with a swift nod. "If I wipe him out, could you imagine the chaos it would cause? Why, I could guess the future would be nothing like it his right now!"

"'Future?'" Mickey repeated. "What is this guy talking about?"

Sora never took his eye off Starxys. "Donald, Goofy, I need you to take Mickey somewhere safe for a little while. I dunno where, maybe Pete's steamboat, just go somewhere away from this guy. Now!"

"Why should we?" Donald protested. Claudio was the one who turned around. He grabbed the edge of his coat and pulled it open, revealing Low Cut in its holster.

"Go ahead Mr. Duck, make my day!" Challenged the aggravated warrior. "Give me a reason. Come on, just one (bleep)ing reason you white-feathered piece of (bleep)!" Donald hesitated at the violent threats and Claudio grew impatient by his standstill. "Did you not understand us? Just go!"

"Okay." Mickey said simply.

"What?" Donald shrieked. "What are you saying Mickey?"

"I trust these guys Donald," explained Mickey. "This Starxys guy is clearly up to no good so we should get going."

"I guess Pete's boat is the best place." Goofy said.

"Alright!" Donald finally admitted. "Let's go." He then turned to Claudio. "But I'll get you back for that little spat you just had with me!" The three denizens of Disney turned away and walked down to the wharf.

Claudio smirked as they did. "And the beautiful thing is, with my pseudonym, Donald won't know it was me who said that to him."

Starxys was running towards the three retreating bystanders, when the Keybladers ran interception. "Not so fast, buddy." Namine threatened, the fire burning in her eyes once more.

Starxys shirked his shoulders and un-slung his guitar. "Okay, I can whoop you guys quickly once more! Sonic Breakdown!" He inched his hand to the volume knob on his guitar and began to crank it.

"Quickly, hit the strings with an attack to disrupt the note!" Claudio urged his allies and Namine reacted the fastest, firing a lightning bolt from her Keyblade at the energy strings of the guitar. Before Starxys could play his debilitating note, the bolt of electricity hit the guitar and all the strings fizzled out.

The electrical backlash from the collision knocked Starxys back onto his rump. "Okay, alright, you guys wanna fight?" Starxys stood back up, ran his pick over the guitar and the strings flared into life again. "I'll give you a fight! Echo Clones!" The air shimmered like back at Disney Castle and six Starxys clones came into existence.

"Find yourself some new cheap tricks, Starxys!" Claudio roared, quickly drawing Low Cut and gathering energy. "You aren't beating us like that again! Prism Chain Arts, Blasting Style: Seeker Shot!" The red energy bullet fired from the revolver and whizzed and weaved its way through the clones, finding the original Starxys and catching him on the head on the guitar.

Once again, the backlash knocked Starxys on his ass and the clones faded out of existence. "I'm getting tired of doing this." He moaned, climbing back to his feet once more. "You tired with 'cheap tricks'. Okay, I'll give a straight-up brawl then!" He took his guitar in hand and held the instrument like a rifle, strumming on the energy strings. Not before long, energy blasts began to shoot from the end of the guitar like a gun firing bullets.

This sudden strike caught the others off guard and the energy blasts nearly toasted them alive. Starxys was essentially giving them show and a beating, the guitarist playing the same series of notes in a continuous loop but firing wherever the Keyblade Masters dodged. Rain decided to give him a taste of his own medicine and cast a Reflect spell on herself, deflecting an energy bullet intended for her back at Starxys. The musician yelped and darted to the left to avoid being fried by his own attack.

"That all you got, you pathetic Guitar Hero wannabe?" Roxas taunted the Immortal, who nearly cracked his head on a rock after dodging the reflected energy shot. "Or do you want me and my girlfriend to wipe the black-and-white floor with you?"

Starxys got an overconfident smirk on his face. "Bring it on, Goldie Hawn." He taunted back. "And this time I'll take more off of your girlfriend than a few inches of hair."

Speaking of Namine, she had snuck behind Starxys and leapt into the air, roaring a battle cry and bringing Blooming Radiance down on Starxys. He reacted quickly, bringing up his guitar to block the attack and shoving Namine off. He swung his guitar at her, but she stepped back, narrowly avoiding the energy enwrapped instrument and countered with a series of quick thrusts with her Keyblade, which Starxys avoided narrowly as well. Namine proceeded to fire a set of close-range, low-power magic spells, which Starxys countered with his own energy blasts.

Namine charged the musician again but Starxys sidestepped and tripped her with the neck of his guitar. The blonde ex-Nobody fell flat on her face as Starxys reared for the finishing blow when both Kairi and Roxas darted into the guitarist, bashing his chest with the flat of their blades. Sora was next, angling fireballs from his Keyblade like a mortar blast to rain down on the prone Starxys. The Immortal rolled left and right and left once more to avoid getting roasted by the falling, meteor like flares.

Starxys performed a kip-up to get back to his feet and played on his guitar, sending a sound wave through the air to knock the heroes of their feet with astonishing force. Starxys dusted the dirt off of his vest and looked to the heroes as they were clambering back up to their feet.

"Not so fun when it is on the other foot, is it?" He asked in a taunting tone, the heroes ignoring him. "Now, don't be cold with me. Just cause we're trying to kill each other, doesn't mean we can't have a little conversation. Or maybe being turned into black-and-white cartoons means you can only talk in text bubbles?" They ignored him again. Starxys shook his head as he peeled his gloves off. "Fine, be that way. I'll kick it off the second act with a brand, spankin' new single!" He began to glow with a monochrome aura and his guitar vanished, transfiguring itself into energy and then transferring the energy into the aura. When the aura subsided, his arms were covered with armour plating, his hands ending in wicked black claws. He checked them over, smiled approvingly and flexed his new claws.

"So," Starxys cricked his neck and flexed his armoured arms and hands, "shall I kick this party off, or shall you?" He clenched his hands into fists and two arm blades shot out of the back of his hands.

Moving in a blur, Starxys appeared behind Sora and made a move for him, thrusting on of his arm blades with intent to impale Sora through the neck. At the last moment, Claudio shoulder-tackled Sora out of the way. The blade tried to swerve to hit the Keyblader but it ended up biting it Claudio's shoulder. The force of the blow knocked Claudio to the ground as the wound began to knit itself up. Before Sora could counterattack, Starxys blurred away and appeared before Roxas, trying to skewer him on his arms.

Roxas quickly and adeptly blocked both blades with Guardian Soul and Sleeping Lion, matching the guitarist stroke for stroke in a double blade duel. Roxas sent Starxys spinning back with a sideswipe from Guardian Soul, before he took his stance and let loose several machine-gun stabs at the blonde Keyblader. Roxas back flipped away before Starxys flew with a mighty leap to come down on him with a double, downward blow.

The four blades collided, steel screeching and sparks flying before Rain knocked Starxys away with a Buster fist. Starxys rolled and recovered, peppering Rain with energy blasts fired from his arm blades. Rain teleported around the field to dodged the shots and get in close, striking quickly with Scarlet Queen. Starxys moved to block but Rain redirected her swing from a one-handed side strike to a two-handed thrust. She then teleported behind the Immortal to pierce him through the spine, he caught this at the last second, twisting his body around only to get nicked by Scarlet Queen on the ribs. Starxys spun away, yelping from the wound, and aimed for a downward aerial stab, Rain jumped back and kicked the fool in his face, earning another yelp from the guitarist.

Claudio was the next opponent for Starxys, using his Diamond Burst Chain Art to pelt his foe with daggers of ice. Starxys cut through them with his arm blades before blurring away, strafing in a circle around the warrior. Claudio copied the move, speeding in a blur using his own super speed. The two move around at high-speed, clashing sabres at every other interval. At one point, Claudio ducked one of Starxys' swings and head butted him in the gut, knocking the Immortal back. After the skidding stopped, Starxys drove both his arms into the ground, creating a shockwave to knock the entire group to their feet.

From the dust, Starxys blurred out with fury in his eyes, aiming to skewer someone. Little did he know, that he darted out from the opposite side of the dust cloud that his enemies were on.

"Come on!" Starxys yelled in anger, swivelling his head and waiting for the dust cloud to settle. "This is perfect! I get the perfect opportunity to kill one of these lame wads and this is what happens!" Starxys turned around to see that the entire group of six had vanished from right under his nose.

"How did that happen?"

"Gaia!"

A pillar of stone rose out from the ground and struck Starxys right in the chin, giving him an earthen uppercut of epic proportions. He tried to recover in midair but Kairi continued to slam her Keyblade into the ground, summoning more pillars to hit the musician and juggle him high in the air. Despite the constant casting of spells, Starxys couldn't spy where Kairi was.

As Starxys hit the ground with a loud "OOF!" he could hear snickering form the heroes in their hiding places. "So, what happened with the 'ready to rock' Starxys from five minutes ago?" Roxas mocked from out of nowhere. Starxys crept around the field to where he thought he heard Roxas's voice came from. He slashed wildly but only cut air.

"Swing and a miss!" Called out Roxas again. Starxys growled as he began to pounce all over the place, trying in vain to catch someone with is arm blades.

"Where the (bleep) are you guys?" He frothed in frustration, pretty much unaware that his curse was bleeped.

Claudio snorted from his hiding spot. "I've had enough of this running." He announced. "Whoever set up my veil, bring it down." Claudio soon appeared out of nowhere, the air shimmering when he came into view.

"How did you do that?" Starxys demanded. Claudio gave no answer except the revving of his blade.

"Never you mind." Claudio replied coolly. "Prism Chain Arts, Thundaga Style: Thunder Blade!" Lightning ran up and down his blade, being converted from a swirling mass of energy beforehand. Both men charged and swung with their blades; when metal hit metal once more, Claudio was left the victor as the lightning wrapped around High Streak made contact with the now metal arms of Starxys and sent him into a series of violent spasms.

"Now, the coup de grace!" Claudio reared High Streak over his head, ready to drop it onto Starxys with all his force. "Prism Chain Arts, Blizzage Style: Ice Brand!" A fine mist of ice and cold enshrouded High Streak, the cold so intense that Claudio could feel it through his thick leather gloves. With a single hand, he swung the freezing sword down on Starxys, intending to shatter his metal blades with a single blow.

"Prismatic Wall!"

A multicoloured, semi-transparent, half-dome of energy popped up in between Starxys and Claudio, just as the freezing High Streak crashed down on the shield, forcing it to waver… but only for a second. There was a sudden backlash of energy and Claudio was sent flying across the field. When he rose up from the grass, his hands were frozen in ice; High Streak practically welded to his grip, with the sword also caked in ice. Several patches of ice dotted Claudio's clothing with several freezer burns covering the exposed skin on his face. The pain of the burns was so extreme that Claudio went into a series of bleeped-out curses, writhing in pain as the wounds slowly began to knit themselves up.

The five remaining warriors of light appeared in the same matter as Claudio, Sora and Roxas standing their ground against Starxys as Kairi, Namine and Rain ran up to look at Claudio's wounds.

"How are you feeling?" Kairi asked as Claudio continued to swear and writhe in pain.

"I've had better days…and wounds." He replied sardonically. "Even my regeneration can't cancel the pain of some things." His face flashed in a spasm of pain. "Like ice burns…" Both Kairi and Namine ran their hands over his body, both glowing a monochromic green. As they passed over the wounds, the ice cracked off in large chunks and the burns began to knit up quicker than before.

Claudio stood, flexed his fingers and cricked his neck. "Thanks girls." Claudio thanked the two as they approached the battlefield once more. "My healing factor has limitations on certain wounds, just like anything."

"How's the fight going boys?" Rain asked the blonde and brunette as they approached them.

"Not so good." Roxas responded. "Its that (bleep) wall of his."

"Nothing we do can get by it." Sora explained. "Physical strikes bounce off of it and magic simply backfires on us."

"Yup!" Starxys confirmed in a happy voice, shadowed by the rainbow coloured wall. "My Prismatic Wall prevents any and all frontal assaults against me, why still letting me bypass it and attack my foes." He placed his hands on his hips and grinned idiotically. "Now there's nothing you can do to get to me." The group narrowed their eyes at the grinning mook before Starxys put his hand on his chin and thought aloud. "But I wonder…since I told you how my shield works, how about you give my the low down on that vanishing trick of yours? You know, quid pro quo?"

"It was a light technique." Kairi replied in an annoyed voice. "Me and Namine can manipulate light, so we bent the light around us and our allies to make ourselves invisible."

"Pretty sneaky sis." Starxys noted.

"He did not just say that." Roxas replied flatly.

Starxys just blew him off. "Whatever." He said as he began to walk backwards towards the Wharf. "With this wall over me, you guys can't get to me at all. And do you know what that means? I am free to kill the rat!" Everyone gasped. "And there ain't nothing you mugs can do about it!"

Claudio and Sora reacted quickly, firing bullets and fireballs at Starxys, respectively. Both projectiles just hit the wall and bounced off back at the firers. The heroes hit the deck as the attacks passed overhead.

Starxys chuckled at the futile attempt to hit him. "What did I tell you? I'm gonna kill the rat king and there isn't a single thing you can do ab-" The back of his head and body smacked into some sort of wall between him and the entrance to the Wharf. "What the?"

Kairi smiled as Starxys repeatedly hit backwards kicks on the invisible wall behind him. "You're not getting that down you moron." She said with uncharacteristic sweet venom on her tongue. "You're not the only one who can build a wall from nothing." The other got what Kairi was hinting at. "I wonder what wall is stronger? Your little rainbow power barrier or my Light Screen?"

Starxys doubled over, deflating in disappointment before rising, shaking in anger. "Shut up you (bleep)!" Even though the word was bleeped, the others could guess what he was saying at weren't too pleased about it. "You've messed with my plans for the last time! But I always have a backup." Starxys smiled evilly. "If I can't cause havoc in the past, then I can always do it in the present!" His arm armour turned back into the energy guitar. He played a few notes, breaking into a chord and then a solo. "Dimensional Wall Prison!"

Starxys heaved his guitar into the air and slammed it down on the lawn, a wave of energy rising from the point of contact. The group tried to dodge but the wave overtook them and buried them in a massive tidal wave of energy.

**KHKHKH**

Riku and the Elric Brothers pushed themselves through the throng of people in front of the gate to Agrabah.

Riku looked around the city, taking in the sights, the sound, the smells, things he couldn't do the last time he was here. When he was here the last time, he was alone and it was to capture Jasmine after Jafar had inevitably failed. Now, he was here with Alphonse and Edward and it was to stop either an Immortal or a member of Maleficent's cabal and possibly pass out a Keyblade.

How things have changed.

Wiping the sweat off his brow, Riku took of his vest and rolled up the sleeves on his shirt. He noticed that the amount of people and the sweltering desert and forced Ed to take off his jacket as well. Alphonse was completely unmolested by the heat.

Wiping the sweat off his brow, he glanced around apprehensively. It had been a long time since he had gone to Agrabah, purposely choosing to avoid it during his last journey for fear of being found out. It was just his luck that this was the course the Blank Keychain had set for him, first Beast's Castle, now this. He travelled through the bazaar, along with his two companions, shoving their way through the crowd, gazing quickly left and right, eyes darting two and fro for anyone that might recognize him. He had told the Elric brothers about his past in this city and he was hoping he could make his way through the city without incident. As he continued to exchange shifty glances with other citizens, he was wishing he still had his old black cloak to hide his visage.

Wiping the sweat off his brow, he turned back to the Elrics to speak. "Remember: don't do anything stupid guys," cautioned the white-haired Dawn warrior for the umpteenth time. "I would prefer if we don't draw any attention to us, specifically me, and you two have a habit of-"

Ed cut him off, "We know Riku, we know. You've been over this a thousand times." The diminutive alchemist began to eye shop after shop in the bustling bazaar. He then began his best Riku impersonation. "'Don't make a spectacle of yourself, don't freak out after a short joke, don't steal from the vendors, avoid the Princess…' Over and over again Riku, we know, we know!"

Riku kept his cool and continued. "I'm just trying to make sure-" Ed stuck out a hand and Riku scowled at being cut off again.

"Brother," Al began, "I think we should listen to Riku. He has been travelling around before." Ed blew a raspberry.

"Yeah, working for the forces of darkness."

Riku kept his cool, without much effort to boot. "That hurt Ed." He said in a cynical and sarcastic voice. Ed raised an eyebrow at the Wielder of Dawn.

"What gives?" He exclaimed. "Normally you get all frosty and cold when I mention that stuff."

"I've made my peace with it." Riku smiled at the alchemist.

"Whatever." Ed rolled his eyes and strolled away from his younger brother and the other Keyblader. Al made an attempt to follow him but he soon lost the shorter brother in the throng of taller people.

Riku noticed this. "You couldn't have stopped him if you wanted to." Commented Riku to the steel-clad alchemist. "He's got a good head on his shoulders, he should be fine."

"No offence Riku," retorted Alphonse. "But you haven't known my brother as long as I have." Alphonse gazed off with literal steely eyes. "He'll do something stupid, dollars to Keychains, he'll do it."

Riku chuckled to himself. "You're probably right." He motioned for the suit of armour to follow him. "Come on, we need to figure out a game plan for this world, and quickly. Every minute I spend on this world, the risk of me getting skinned alive rises". Al shuffled through the crowd to follow Riku as the two set off into the crowd.

Meanwhile, Ed was wandering through the crowd after leaving his brother and Riku. He pushed his tiny frame through the bazaar to sample in everything he could see. What he could see was the midsections of the townsfolk. Sighing, he stood up on a stack of boxes to get a better look of the stands about him. As he did, he could not help but get a feeling of familiarity. Agrabah was in many ways like the town of Lior on his home world, the nostalgia washed over him but soon passed when he spied a fruit vendor. As if asking a question he never spoke, his stomach growled an answer in the form of an affirmative yes. Grinning, he hopped off his perch and made his way to the vendor, eyeing a ripe, red apple that looked like a slab of prime beef right about now. He reached out and snatched the apple up in his right hand, retrieving his arm as soon as he got it.

But before he could fully recall the limb, something latched onto his steel wrist and pinned the arm down on the stand, the apple still resting in his palm.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Ed asked, peeved, at whoever had grabbed his wrist, he saw that the shopkeeper had done the deed and didn't look too pleased about it.

"The big idea would be me stopping you, thief!" The shopkeeper spat out. "Now, for your punishment." He reached behind his stand and pulled out a wickedly sharp looking cleaver.

"This can't be good." Ed quipped at the sight of the knife-brandishing merchant.

"The punishment for thievery is to cut the hand that committed the deed." As the merchant proclaimed this, Ed smiled, thanking he was born right-handed. The merchant raised the blade high in the air and brought it down on to Ed's right hand.

_CLANG!!_

The cleaver hit the hand, cutting through the fabric on Ed's shirt, causing sparks to fly. But then the pressure the merchant used to cut off the hand forced the blade to snap clean in two. The merchant looked aghast at what just happened, staring at his shattered knife, completely forgetting about Ed. The alchemist withdrew his arm, wringing his steel wrist before taking a bite out of his ill-gotten apple.

"Well, you took a cut at the hand that stole," the State Alchemist confessed with a swagger about him. "Now that I have served my punishment, I guess I'll just go on my way now." Ed tossed his apple in the air, caught it, took another bite and walked away, proud at what he had accomplished today. The merchant, broken out of his shocked stupor, found something in the crowd that caught his eye.

Cupping his hands to his mouth, the shop keep bellowed out. "GUARDS!! HELP!! ARREST THAT SHORT MAN!!"

Ed possessed ears that were tuned to hear the quietest muttering of any synonyms of the word 'short'. He didn't need them now considering how loud the man said those unholy words.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what will happen next.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BEANSIZED MIDGET WHO YOU COULD CRUSH WITH YOUR PINKY FINGER!?"

Edward rushed forward to the stall and began to go berserk in his usual fashion, jumping up on the counter, thrashing around and getting into the merchant's face as he began to get into the rut of his short rant.

The merchant blinked at the sudden outburst of anger before he answered Ed's question. "You." He said. "You are who I am calling a bean-sized midget who I could crush with my pinky finger." A vein bulged out on Ed's forehead, threatening to explode and shower the Agrabah bazaar in his boiling blood.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!! THAT WAS A RHETORICAL QUESTION, YOU JACKASS!!"

Across the entire city of Agrabah, Ed's shout of anger could be heard, ringing and echoing off the walls and through the alleyways. It eventually caught up with Al and Riku, the two lifting their heads to the sky and sighing in unison.

"You know it has got to have something to do with Edward." Riku quipped sarcastically with a nonchalant shrug.

Al ignored the jab at his brother. "Come on, it came from over here." The suit of armour pointed and the two ran to where they heard the origin of the scream. When they arrived they found Edward, still stuck in "Short Rant Mode", swinging two bazaar patrons around by the ankles. The citizens had backed off from the alchemist, giving him a large circle to work with.

"HERE!! HERE!!" Ed screamed at the merchant who offended him, spinning about and swinging the citizens as if they weighed nothing. "DOES THIS LOOK LIKE SOMETHING A BEANSIZED MIDGET COULD DO?! DOES IT? DOES IT!!"

"Brother, calm down." Al insisted to his berserk brother. "Calm down! You got to get this thing under control." Ed was still going extremely nuts. "If you keep this up, we won't be able to go out into public anymore." Al continued to try (and fail) to get Ed to calm down and put down the men.

Riku craned his neck skyward and sighed loudly. "When I signed up for this job, I wasn't expecting to have to baby-sit the Hissy Fit Alchemist." He looked into the crowd and saw several burly men in uniforms move to Ed's position. Riku knew who they were; they were the Royal Palace Guard. "Not good." He went up to Al and began to tap on the hollow armour. "Al, calm you brother down and get moving, it isn't safe to be here."

"What do you mean, Riku?" Riku pointed to the guards moving closer to Ed, who had finally calmed down and tossed the citizens he was carrying aside.

"Okay, fine, I'm calm again. Are you happy Al?" Ed asked sardonically before feeling a hand clasp down on his shoulder. "Whoever's hand this is, get it off me now! I am not in a good mood today."

When the person did not remove the hand, Ed turned around, preparing to sock the person with an Automail arm. The metal hand was caught, mid-punch, by an ugly and sour-looking guard who carried an officer's badge on his uniform. Riku knew who he was as well, Razoul, Captain of the Guard.

"Insolent street rat." Razoul snarled, shoving Ed to the ground with a single push of his meaty palm. "You are hereby placed under arrest for stealing, disturbing the peace, and violently berating and assaulting a citizen of Agrabah."

Ed got up in a huff, dusted himself off and stared Razoul down. "A lot of people have tried to arrest me." The alchemist admitted with complete nonchalance. "And they have all failed. You wanna be the next on the list? Be my guest!"

Before either Ed or Razoul could begin to duke it out in the streets, a female voice called through the crowd. "Razoul, what is going on? Why did you leave all of a sudden?"

Even though this was a sweet and beautiful voice, it sent a shiver down Riku's spine, just because of his relation to the owner of that voice.

Princess Jasmine stepped onto the scene, all the citizens of Agrabah parting way for the Princess, and surveyed what was happening. The area where you could clearly see Ed had blown-up, the two unconscious citizens that Ed used as props and Ed preparing to get into a street fight with the Captain of her guard.

"Razoul, what is the meaning of this? Are you fighting while on duty?" Her voice was still kind but filled with authority. Before Razoul could reply though, Jasmine's eyes happened upon a young boy with long silver hair. It took a second, but she soon recognized who the boy was. Her face went into an exact imitation of Belle's back on Beast's Castle and did not go unnoticed by Riku.

He gulped staring into the face of the person he had once kidnapped. "Um…hey, Princess Jasmine. Long time, no see." He responded in a nervous voice.

Jasmine's face turned stern in a flash. "Guards! Arrest these three at once! By any means necessary!"

As the guards unsheathed their weapons and began to swarm over the suit of armour, the State Alchemist and the darkling Keyblade Master, Riku tried to think of a witty quip, a calming phrase…anything that would help the situation.

All he got was this:

"Ah, crap."

**KHKHKH**

Sora forced his eyes to blink open following Starxys's blinding wave of energy. When he managed to, he found himself, along with Kairi, Namine, Roxas, Rain and Claudio, inside what seemed to be cube composed of bright blue walls with energy coursing through them. Everyone was gathered in the center of the cube, away from the energy-bristling walls, and so Sora shuffled himself over next to Kairi.

"What just happened?" The brunette Keyblader asked the group. Everyone nervously shuffle themselves around to make room for Sora in their little circle inside the cube. When no one answered him, he decided to ask another question. "How long was I out?"

"I was up first." Roxas declared to his Somebody. "And its been about five minutes since I got up. Course, I don't know how long I was out so it kind of renders it at a moot point."

Sora nodded slowly in comprehension, eyes trailing around the walls they were trapped in. He also noticed that both colour and form had been restored inside the cube. The others were no longer black and white and Sora and Kairi no longer had their fourteen year-old attires on. Everything was enshrouded in a bright, electric blue, making the interior of their prison seem like a rave of some sorts. Trailing off from the group, Sora inched his way to the energy walls and stretched his hand out to touch it.

"I wouldn't do that." Cautioned Claudio, who had been sitting Indian style with his eyes closed. Sora paused his hand and turned back to the warrior.

"And why is that?" Sora asked.

Rain answered. "Because, Roxas tried touching them and got a pretty bad shock. And that was just with just his finger." Sora backed away from the wall at record speed. "It even hurt Claudio to touch it with a gloved palm."

"So it there anyway out of this place?"

The group shook their heads in a collective no. "The energy current neutralizes magic attacks." Namine pointed out, demonstrating with a thunder spell that was simply imbibed by the wall.

"And striking it with the Keyblades barely does any damage." Kairi explained. Roxas stood up, summoned Sleeping Lion and struck the wall. The blue aura flickered for a moment but overall there was no damage.

Sora sighed and sat down next to Kairi, the two instinctively putting arms over one-another. Not to be outdone, Roxas and Namine mirrored the action of affection. Claudio continued to sit with eyes closed and arms crossed but Rain seemed distracted about being in the room. She periodically got up and walked around the cube, tracing her finger through the air around the walls. She would sit down, get up, and repeat as the other mumbled and milled through ideas that would be shot down or inevitably fail.

After getting up, walking and sitting down for about the twenty-fifth time, Rain turned to Claudio. "Could I borrow your coat for a second?"

Claudio raised one eyebrow. "What for, love?" Despite the question, Claudio removed his coat and tossed it to his wife.

"Just a theory I need to test." Rain wrapped the coat around her right hand and placed it on the nearest wall. She grimaced as she touched the energy inducing wall but soon her face settled back to its normal look. As she began to press her palm through the coat and nearer to the wall, a scarlet glow overtook her.

Kairi leaned over to whisper to the sitting Claudio. "What is she doing, Claudio?" He opened his eyes and shifted his legs around.

"Sensing energy." He replied after eyeing her scarlet aura. "She's trying to figure out where the energy in the wall is coming from."

Sora scratched the top of his head. "How will that help us?"

Claudio opened his mouth for a smart aleck response but Rain cut him off quickly. "We can get out of here." She announced proudly. "But first, I need you to help me." She pointed to Claudio who obliged in silence by standing up. "All you have to do is shoot an energy blast at the wall. Non-elemental, if you would."

Claudio un-slung Low Cut from its holster and gathered a torrent of red energy at the tip of the barrel. "Prism Chain Arts, Blasting Style: Charged Shot!" The high-density energy bullet launched from the revolver and impacted with the energy barrier around the wall. Red pierced blue and made a small, black scorch mark on the wall itself. Claudio smirked an understanding smirk, twirled his pistol around and blew the smoke off his barrel.

"So…was there a point to that?" Roxas asked following the demonstration.

"There was Roxas." Rain said, sliding Scarlet Queen from its sheath. "The cube has three layers, an outer wall, a center energy core and an inner wall. The core supplies the dimensional suspension that keeps us locked out of the Timeless River while the walls absorb magical energy, but only _magical_ energy. Energy created by magic will be drawn into the wall but energy created from energy will bypass the barrier and hit the wall. To shatter the dimension we are in we need to break the core in between the walls. Breaking the core is a simple matter of disrupting it with enough energy of any type. That is how we will get out."

"How are we going to get out?" Sora asked, confused and exasperated at Rain's roundabout way of explaining the situation.

"Claudio and Rain will shatter the wall with energy attacks and then we will disrupt the core with a magic attack." Namine summarized for the other Keyblader.

"Why couldn't you just say that!"

"We can argue this later," Kairi interjected. "Right now, Starxys is in Disney Castle! And the Hall of the Cornerstone leads right to the throne room, where the Queen is!"

Claudio stepped near the wall and removed High Streak from his shoulder. He fingered the trigger and caused the blade to rev and vibrate. "Right then, I will generate the energy for the attacks." With one hand, he hefted High Streak above his head and crashed down on the wall, the blue barrier wavering at the force of the blow and blue and white sparks flying off the wall at the vibrations of the high-frequency blade.

"Why is he doing that?" Roxas whispered to Rain, both shielding themselves from the spark rain.

"The vibrations separate cause energy from the barrier to be released and loosens the bonds between the molecules of the wall." Rain explained, loud enough for the others to hear. "Claudio can use the free and molecular energy to create his attacks while my Scarlet Queen," she patted the flat of her blade, "Does the same for me."

After a minute of grinding, Claudio stowed away his blade and stepped back, point of the blade resting on the ground. "Give 'er a go, Rain."

Rain planted Scarlet Queen into the earth and stepped forward, patting her fist into her palm and shaking out her hand. "7 Rose Draw, No. 4: Buster!" She reared back her right arm and a disembodied arm appeared over her, doing the same. Rain punched the air and the energy arm punched through the barrier and made contact with the wall, shaking the entire cube. When the arm dissipated, a small hairline crack was visible.

"Okay, I'm next." Claudio picked High Streak up as Rain walked back. He revved it a few times, covering the blade in a film of red and black. "Prism Chain Arts, Finisher Style: Hell's Butterfly!" The red and black energy took the form of the familiar blade beam, colliding with the wall and forcing the crack open even more.

The husband and wife duo continued the pattern for about three more Busters and two more Hell's Butterflies until a large crack was visible in the wall. The Keybladers stepped forward, five keys aimed at the crack, energy crackling from their tips. In one fell swoop and five simultaneous Thundaga blasts later, the wall burst open and the group was unceremoniously dumped from the colour prison of the cube back into the monochrome world of Timeless River. The four Keybladers went first, with Rain and Claudio landing on top of them.

"Hey, for once, I'm not the one everyone lands on." Claudio smirked in victory, still sitting on the four teenagers.

"That's great Claudio." Roxas groaned from the bottom of the pile. "That really is, we are all proud of you. But now, do you mind getting off us so we can go back and beat Starxys?"

The group got up and charged for the floating door to their present and the inevitable battle against Starxys.

**KHKHKH**

The group fell out of the door back into the coloured world of Disney Castle, everyone falling on top of one another. Instead of complaining, everyone quickly recovered and got up, darting up the stairs that lead from the Hall of the Cornerstone to the throne room. As they ascended the stairs, they could hear two voices, Starxys' musical, at times silly, voice and another one that sounded like a grating growl.

When they reached the top of the steps, they saw a very terrible scene. The white marble interior of the throne room was smudged, burned and scratched all over, evidence of the leftovers of a battle. The combatants had not yet left the room, Starxys standing at one end of the room, guitar reared and ready and Waltz, facing opposite the guitarist, standing in front of the Queen. Waltz was in bad shape; his helmet had been long since abandoned showing off sweaty and dishevelled hair and trails of blood running from his forehead. A massive crack trailed down his chest armour like forked lightning and his left arm hung limply at his side, blood flowing from the spaces in his metallic gauntlet. The Keybladers watched the scene play out from just below the stairs, maintaining an element of surprise.

The Dragoon breathed heavily, lance in one hand and pointed at the musician. Starxys laughed, finding the scene comical. "Why don't you just fall down dead already? You can't stop me, I've beaten you halfway dead."

Waltz shook his head, crimson droplets spattering on the ground. "Then I am still halfway alive!" The Dragoon retorted furiously, spearhead aimed menacingly, if not shakily, at Starxys's heart.

Starxys placed on hand on his chin, the other idly tapping the frets of his guitar. He looked the Dragoon over "I guess I can fight you a little more. Who knows? Your heart maybe a worthy enough tribute and then I'll get twice the bonus for bringing in your heart and the Queen's"

Waltz growled at the assured tone in the Immortal's voice and the squeak of fear escaping the Queen's lips. "Then, if that is the case, if you want my heart, then you will have to rip it out of my chest!"

"I would walk over there, but I am allergic to cowards who won't approach me in combat."

"I am no coward!" Waltz roared at the slight to his honour, making Starxys shrink some bit. "What I am doing is defending my pride, my honour, my way of life! More importantly, I am defending my new home. My home is lost to darkness, my family gone; my brothers are dead and the practices long forgotten. I am the lone bastion of the Dragoons and the defender of Disney Castle and I will be damned if I let this world fall without me doing everything in my power to defend it! And even if I do fall, then I will go to the grave with solace that I will be avenged! Beat me, and face the Keybladers! They are not soldiers but they care about this world as much as I do, if not more! And if I am willing to die for this world, imagine what those six are willing to do."

Not long after the speech, the world began to move slow and sluggish, as if time was trying to move its way through a pool of mud. A Blank Keychain rose from Sora's back pocket and shone with golden light before him. Namine proved quickest on the draw, shooting it with a ray of light, the artefact being carried by the beam towards Waltz, whose still frame absorbed it into his heart.

When time returned to normal, Starxys cricked his neck and paced menacingly to the left and to the right. "Is that so?" Commented the Immortal, a malicious grin on his face. "If you die, which you will, then the Keybladers will beat me? Not gonna happen considering they are currently trapped in a pocket dimension a few decades in the past. They are out of the way and aren't going to help you." Waltz narrowed his eyes on his narrow face and growled a threat.

"Well then, I guess I just have to beat you myself."

Waltz lowered his lance and swiped it across the floor, leaving a deep gouge into the snow-white marble. "If you are so confident, then cross the line, cross this line and make your stand you unnatural piece of crap!"

Starxys curled his lip in anger before putting both his hand back on his guitar and strumming a note. "How about… no!" He played a single not on the guitar and cause a massive sound wave to ripple from the instrument. Soon, a funnel of compressed sound drilled its way across the room, carving a trench in the floor and hitting Waltz square on. He tried to resist the attack but was caught by the sound blast and sent flying into the air, above the Queen and then crashing into the back wall, crumbling to the floor with a wheeze of pain.

Starxys tittered ebulliently at his handiwork before smiling evilly, flexing, and then stiffening, his fingers and crackling with dark purple energy.

"Now, for the finishing touches and I can call this world a wraps." Starxys slowly walked to the frightened and retreating Queen Minney, a wicked look in his eyes as his hand continued to pulse in the same way Creed's did before he stole Gaston's heart. The Keybladers watched in silent horror, forgetting the fact that Waltz was down or that he received a Keyblade. All that was in their minds that Minney was at risk of losing her heart.

Rain saw this and watched with intent, eyes narrowing in silent, burning rage. Energy bristled and smouldered around her before she reared back to punch an invisible foe.

"7 Rose Draw, No. 4: Buster!"

The disembodied phantom hand darted across the room and smashed into Starxys before he even knew what had hit him. He was lifted off of his feet and crashed into, and through, the door and between the pillars that lead to the courtyard. The group took this as a cue to get out of the stairwell and into the throne room. They raced over to the Queen, who was tending to an out of it Waltz.

"Where have you all been?" Minney piped in as they ran to the heavily breathing and unconscious Waltz. "The Castle has been besieged by the invaders."

"Sorry your Majesty," Kairi apologized curtly and hurriedly. "Starxys was a little bit of trouble for us." She put an ear to Waltz's chest before removing his chest armour and trying again. "He's in pretty bad shape."

"We should tend to his wounds quickly." Namine agreed but then gazed to the unhinged doors. "But we need to tend to Starxys as well."

"You four," Rain pointed to Roxas, Sora, Claudio and Namine, "Deal with Starxys, the two of us will help Waltz along with the Queen."

Roxas nodded. "Sounds like a plan." He and the others got up and ran down the length of the throne room and then leapt over the railing and down into the courtyard to find Starxys just managing to get up from being Bustered across three separate areas.

When Starxys saw the four near him he shook his head, part in disbelief, part to shake away the stars circling his head. "How the hell are you here? I thought I left you to rot in that pocket dimension!"

"Well we still would be in that godforsaken cube," Claudio was the one who walked forward first, bringing High Streak out once more and hovering its tip about a foot away from Starxys. "That is, if you weren't an incompetent moron."

"Fine, you four wanna tango?" Starxys snapped his fingers and several Fell Souls appeared around him, including white and blue counterparts to the Fire Brutes, appropriately named Ice Brutes. He then turned his guitar into the iron claw and arm blades. "Then be my guest!" The Fell Souls charged the group and Starxys charged Sora, meeting the arm blades with the Oblivion.

They locked up their blades, sparks flaring from the friction, Sora grimaced at the strength that Starxys poured into his own blades but soon lightened the scowl and began to speak.

"Say Starxys, I have seen Immortals collect hearts before but what for? Is it for Kingdom Hearts or what?"

"Man, haven't you learned anything yet?" Starxys asked banefully and in contempt. "We aren't playing with kiddie stuff like a fake Kingdom Hearts. Our hearts are going towards a much more useful thing."

"What then?" Starxys rolled his eyes at the Keyblader.

"Give me some respect man, even I'm not that big of an idiot to tell you something like that!" Pushing himself off of Sora's Keyblade, Starxys tumbled through the air and charged up his arm blades; shooting rapid fast energy bolts at the young warrior.

Claudio came charging in and took the brunt of the attack, shielding Sora as the energy bolts hit him and burned through his black leather shirt. He cursed under his breath, hiding his jubilance that he could swear without being bleeped, and eyed Starxys along with Namine and Roxas.

Starxys's face nearly fell off. "You guys are free up already?" The three gave prideful smiles at the comment.

"Yeah, well, maybe you should get some more reliable goons next time." Roxas insulted sharply. Starxys narrowed his eyes and took his stance, blades aimed at the four.

"You honestly think it will be that easy?" Claudio stepped forward from the group and began to concentrate energy into his being, a snow-white and ice blue hue surrounding his body and his blade. Everyone could feel the temperature drop around them and stepped away from the warrior. Water vapour began to freeze and hand in the air around Claudio as he dragged High Streak across the ground, leaving a gouge in the lawn and a gathering of ice energy. He placed High Streak upside down in his right hand and eyed Starxys.

"Prism Chain Arts, Blizzaga Style: Ice White Shine!"

Rising from the lawn in an uppercut, the six and a half foot blade was followed by a streak of blue ice energy and then a torrent of ice and cold rushed from the gouge, threatening to engulf Starxys. The Immortal yelped and dove to the left right before the torrent could catch him. When the attack finished, a massively long block of ice replaced the streak. Starxys stared at the ice with intent, only having jumped a foot to the left of it, before shaking it off and laughing.

"Ha, ha!" He smirked triumphantly; unaware of what had actually happened. "Looks like you missed me!"

"You sure about that?" Namine asked dubiously. Starxys sneered at the blonde before looking over and seeing that his left hand was sealed in the ice block. The musician desperately tugged at his arm, trying to pull it out but it was futile. Sora shook his head before calling a thunder spell down on the ice block to shatter both the block and the left armoured arm. Starxys was left rolling on the ground, smoking and holding his arm in pain and cursing Claudio.

The musician got up, snarling in pain at the group. "You rotten bastard! I am getting sick and tired of this damn mission and dealing with you," he pointed at Sora, "you," Roxas was next, "and you," he pointed to Namine, "but you most of all!" His finger lingered on Claudio before converting his arm armour back into the guitar.

"Now to play you all one final song and then I am out of here!" Starxys hammered on the guitar with rapid speed, playing and intricate and complex chain of notes and chords, electric blue energy pulsing and crackling around his guitar. The energy aura soon transferred from instrument to musician and Starxys raised into the air, lifted by the power he was gathering. The chain of events ended with one last note that rang through the air before Starxys unleashed the energy in one attack. "Shock Burst!"

The entire courtyard flashed blue for a second before a wave of energy spread out from Starxys and washed over his four combatants. No one had anytime to react, as they were throne back onto the long by the shock wave. Following the initial strike, a pulse of electricity flared through their body and a blast of hot air that rocked them back even more. The blue light faded to reveal a chuckling and haughty Starxys.

"Hey, that was pretty fun!" Starxys commented, fingering the energy strings on his guitar. Claudio tried to raise himself off the ground but pain flared through his body, now riddled with burns. He had been the closest to Starxys when he launched the attack, taking the brunt of the energy wave. Concerned, the blue-haired warrior craned his neck around to see that Roxas, Namine and Sora were grounded but had taken less damage than he had.

Starxys was continuing his triumphant gloating, lording his apparent victory over the Keybladers and idly strumming on his guitar. "You know what, that attack was so fun I think I may just have to do it one more time!" The others cursed; knowing one more strike like that would be way too much for their bodies to handle. Still too weak to get up, Starxys began to play on the guitar again. He was reaching the climax of his song and the group was still too weak to counter, fearing the end. Starxys continued to jam, only a few notes away from the Shock Burst attack, the blue energy pulsing around him and his guitar. But that's as far as he would go.

"Dragon Skill: Spiral Whirlwind Javelin!"

Everyone turned to the balcony to see Waltz, leaning on Rain, hurl his spear like a javelin. As the spear took flight, it began to rotate and a torrent of wind surrounded it, focusing into a spinning drill point. Before long the wind drill completely obscured the lance at its core and hit not Starxys, but his guitar, smashing into where the neck meets the head. A burst of wind surrounded the musical Immortal, who soon was sent flying out of the dust cloud, and actually lifted up and pushed back the group, still on the ground.

"Perfect shot!" Rain congratulated the Dragoon leaning on her. He huffed and nodded, his wounds still not fully healed but he had been insistent that Rain and Kairi take him to the battleground.

He grunted as pain flared through his body from using such a powerful attack. "Go on you two." He barked roughly at the two girls, Kairi standing beside the two. They turned to him and shot him questioning looks. "Help your friends, they'll need it. Just do me a favour and beat that idiot." Kairi nodded at the fallen warrior's request.

"Can do Waltz." She ran and leapt over the balcony to the lawn, casting a Curaga spell as she landed to heal her four down allies. As the green light faded, the four got up and groaned at the dull ache in their bodies. Rain let Waltz down gently, propping him up against a marble column so he could watch the rest of the battle, before running to join the action.

The six warriors of light converged on the down Starxys, who was not unconscious but instead grovelling over his guitar, which had been snapped in two following the affects of Waltz's attack.

"Oh no! My guitar, my axe! No, no, no, no, no, no! This thing was an antiquity; a classic, totally cherry and now you guys have gone and ruin it! How could you? No…"

Everyone looked at him like he was an idiot, which he was. Roxas was shaking his head the most at the sight of the whining Immortal.

"This is the guy who was kicking our asses two minutes ago?" Claudio snorted in laughter.

"Apparently so. But now, man I feel bad finishing off a guy this pathetic." He turned to the rest of the group. "Who wants the honours of sending this guy packing?" Namine quickly stepped forward and aimed Blooming Radiance at the oblivious Starxys, still mourning the destruction of his guitar.

"I would. I owe him." She said with a tactical flick of her now shorter locks courtesy of Starxys himself. Pointing the flowery tip of her Keyblade at her bane, it crackled with blue and black energy. Firing a ray of electrical energy at the Immortal, Starxys became immediately entrapped in a sphere of energy, finally focusing on Namine instead of the wreckage of his guitar. Electricity flared around Namine in powerful bursts as Starxys started getting fried by his imprisoning orb.

Finishing her preparations, Namine hoisted her Keyblade high above her head, sending the orb and Starxys, still connected to the Keyblade by an energy stream. A glimmer of energetic fury flashed in Namine's crystal blue eyes before she called with an unnatural thunder in her voice. "Thor's Hammer!" She motioned her Keyblade downwards, hammering Starxys into the lawn with thunderous force before the energy gathering around Namine flew from her and struck Starxys like a storm.

Exhaling, Namine fell to her knees as the others went to congratulate her for the victory and the finisher move she pulled off.

"Not a bad move Nam." Claudio noted with a grin. "I may just have to steal it and add it to my repertoire of Chain Arts." She chuckled at the compliment before Kairi grabbed her arm and hoisted her up.

"That beats anything I can do, hands down." Namine smiled weakly before turning to Roxas who also had an exhausted look on his face, more so than anyone else on the battlefield. This didn't miss Rain's notice.

"What's wrong you two?"

"I think we've spent to much time in the physical realm." Roxas breathed, Namine agreeing quickly. Both sent their Keyblades away and turned back into transparent spirits. "If you guys don't mind, we're gonna head back on in."

"Sure thing man," Sora said in response, Kairi giving her Nobody a similar response. The two smiled wearily before turning into orbs of light and flying into their respective Somebodies.

Everyone then turned to the dust cloud that Namine's Thor's Hammer attack created and saw a heavily injured and burned Starxys crawl his way forward, blood dribbling from his mouth and muttering curses in between heavy breaths.

"You…damn…bastards…I hate…you…all…"

"Give it up Starxys!" Sora cut down the Immortal, not deflating him since Starxys was already badly beaten, but instead stopping his rant and any form of verbal revenge. Starxys rose to his knees and shot icy glares at the group.

"Don't think this is the last time you have seen me. I will be back and I will get my revenge." And with that, Starxys vanished in an instant.

Claudio sighed in relief. "And finally that ordeal is over." The others smiled at the prospect of getting some relaxation after the trying day they had been through.

Sadly, that was not the case.

**KHKHKH**

It had taken most of the remaining day to get the Castle back into sorts and drive out any remaining Fell Souls and Nobodies. Clean-up was proceeded by the group going to the infirmary to get patched up after all the fighting and then to the throne room where Minney was waiting for the six and the now healed Waltz.

The teenage Dragoon did definitely look smaller when not wearing his armour, his gauntlets, greaves, chest plate and helmet removed and replaced by a pair of black shorts with purple dragons embossed in them and a white shirt, the only ornamentation on the shirt being a small golden King's seal on his left breast. Waltz was as skinny as his spear, long and lanky limbs with an overall small body mass that hid his true strength. The unknowing Keyblader had his left arm in a cast, being fractured in two places, and his various wounds bandaged up. He stood at attention as the four alien warriors entered, studying them with narrow eyes.

"You wanted to see us, Your Majesty?" Sora asked as they made their way into the throne room, now fully repaired thanks to Merlin's magic.

"Yes. Sora, Rain, Claudio, Kairi," the Queen turned to each one as she spoke. "I want to thank you for what you did today. Without you, I am afraid to imagine what would have happened to us." Sora assumed his signature stance of nonchalance.

"No problem, Your Majesty. It's our duty." Waltz coughed at that.

"Actually it would be my duty." The Dragoon corrected, earning hard glares from Claudio and Sora. "But I to have to… thank you for what you did today." He needed to force the words "thank you" out of his mouth. "It looks like I have a bit of training to do if I want to match up with the legendary Keyblade Master." Sora smiled at the remark.

"Coming from you Waltz, I'll take that as a compliment."

The Dragoon grimaced at the jib before Minney shuffled to Sora and Kairi, holding two items in her hands. "These two are for your help today. Mickey found them one day while journeying last year and gave them to me, telling me to give them to you if you ever came back." Into their palms she pressed a summon charm, one for each of them.

Sora checked over his, the image in his oval looked like it was constructed from neon light tubes, showing the outline of a man in a trench coat with a sword hefted over his shoulder. He nodded and put it into the pocket that contained the charm used to summon Solid Snake.

Kairi looked at her charm, a feeling of honour washing over her for being given a charm like this. Hers had the image of a sun that had been drawn in the style of a Japanese ink painting. She wondered what kind of creature it summoned before stashing it in one of her pockets.

"Uh, Your Majesty?" Claudio waved a finger to grab the regal mouse's attention. "Yes, I had been meaning to ask, are the three fairies in residence at the Castle right now?"

"They are. They should be in the wardrobe room in the back." The Queen replied and he nodded in thanks.

"Perfect. That's all I needed to hear." Claudio walked next to Kairi and snatched up her arm, forcibly dragging her away despite her protests.

"Claudio? What is going on? Where are you taking me? Uh, I'll see you two back on the ship!"

The other four in the room watched the scene before Sora turned to Minney, a thought popping into his head.

"Your Majesty, I was wondering if you have an idea as to where the Keyhole is in this Castle?"

"Don't worry Sora," she said gently. "Mickey sealed it the moment he arrived home a few months ago."

"Hmm," Sora pondered for a second before turning to Rain. "I guess we should follow Claudio and Kairi, eh?"

"Better than doing nothing." She shrugged, marching off after her husband along with Sora. She turned on her heel back to Waltz and the Queen. "Thank you for everything you Majesty. We'll see you soon one day." The Queen waved her goodbyes and Waltz stepped forward with long strides to where Sora was standing.

"Sora," the Dragoon began with his grating voice. Confliction seemed to cloud his face after the one word, as if he was struggling with what to say before he nodded sharply at the Keyblader and marched through the throne room doors and away from the group.

"I think that was his way of saying goodbye and fair travels." Rain commented to the puzzled brunette. Sora laughed as the two continued to walk after Claudio and Kairi.

"He really isn't that bad a guy, even if he doesn't care too much for us." Sora noted. He made sure they were out of earshot of anyone before whispering to Rain. "Imagine how mad he'll get when he finds out we gave him a Keyblade." Rain snickered at the thought of the prickly, honourable warrior getting a weapon from a boy who was younger than him and had absolutely no formal training in combat.

**KHKHKH**

Claudio had dragged Kairi to the room the Queen specified and presented her before three elderly fairies, one dressed in red, one in blue and one in green.

"Evening Flora, Fauna, Merryweather." He said to the one in red, green and blue in turn, nodding at each one. "You may not know me, but I am Claudio, a friend of Sora, and I was wondering if you could do me a favour."

"We would be happy to, for a friend of Sora's." Flora responded.

"What would this favour be deary?" Merryweather asked.

"Well I have heard of your expertise in the area of fashion." The fairies giggled at the bit of flattery. "And I was wondering if you could fashion some clothing for Kairi right here." He moved her forward and she waved nervously at the three fairies.

"Well we can do that!" Fauna exclaimed. "We could make several lovely gowns for you dear."

"Oh yes," Flora agreed, flicking her wand to summon several pieces of measuring tape that measured every conceivable area of Kairi. "First a few measurements…"

"Then the fabric…" added Merryweather, waving her wand to call and shape pieces of fabric into the desired dresses. Kairi watched all this and shook her head.

"Um, thank you for the dresses but I don't think I could or will be wearing these."

The fairies looked affronted but Claudio quickly stepped in. "What she means is that she is going to be fighting and was looking for something in the department of what you created for Sora, being the Keyblade Princess and all."

"Claudio…" Kairi cautioned, Claudio knowing he was on thin ice for saying the horrid "P-word". But the expressions of the fairies brightened almost instantly.

"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?" Flora smiled. "We need more girls in the field, can't let the men do everything themselves."

"So let us get this underway." Fauna flicked her wand and a spark of magic shot at Kairi, turning her outfit green.

"No, no, no." Merryweather rushed forward. "Green does not go with her hair or her eyes." She flicked her wand, turning the outfit blue. "Blue is much better."

"No! Red!" Flora turned Kairi's clothing red.

"Green!"

"Blue!"

"Red!"

"Green!"

"Blue!"

Claudio groaned and rolled his eyes as the magic sparks bombarded Kairi and her clothing constantly changed between the three colours. "Um, ladies? Ladies! While this argument as to which colour is better is truly fascinating we are on kind of a tight schedule. You know? Saving the universe, pressed for time and all of that."

The three fairies looked at each other. "He's right." Merryweather said. "Okay ladies, on three. One, two, three!" All the fairies shot sparks at Kairi in one go and she was engulfed in a bright light.

When the light settled, Kairi's wardrobe had gone through a total makeover. Her shoes were the same except they were now black and white. She also had kick-guards on that extended up just below her knees they were solid black with a pink strip running down the middle and a white star at the top, placed in the pink stripe. A black skirt, trimmed in pink, ended just above her knees with soft white and gold lines embroidered into the fabric to create the faint images of roses of suns. A simply sublime gold and silver belt made of interlocking hearts surrounded her waist with a blue pouch hooked to the back and a Papou fruit charm hanging off the pouch.

Her top was covered by a piece of breastplate armour that ended and inch or two above her midriff. It was solid white with a pink V-strip running from the top of it to the bottom. The armour ended a little over the top of her breasts, something that she knew would bother her, and in between he breasts was a golden heart etched onto the plating. Three brown buckles clasped together on the left side of the breastplate and two straps supported it at the top, although silver shoulder pads covered them. Over her plating she wore a short, hooded jacket that only went halfway down her torso and the sleeves only covering up to her rotator cuffs. The jacket was solid black except for the trimming at the bottom, the edges of the sleeves and the hood. Finally, she wore a black and white chequered armband, not unlike the one Roxas wore and fingerless gloves, black on the top, white on the bottom.

As she looked over her new attire she couldn't help but feel a new kind of power pulse through her. Different from the Keyblade, from magic or even from her light, it was as if the clothes themselves were radiating the newfound power. She then realized that these were the fairies that made Sora's clothing.

_So, this is the power of driving._ She thought as she took the final glimpse at her clothing before deciding she liked them. She saw the fairies marvelling over their work and Claudio studying her with a critical eye.

"So? What do you think?" She asked her former bodyguard tentatively, unsure of his response. He shifted his hands and smiled at her.

"I think you finally look the part."

"Which one? The Princess or the Keyblader?"

"Both." He stated simply before bowing before his liege. She blushed and almost reprimanded him when she saw a tiny golden light surge from the slightly ajar door. _Sora must have fired off the Blank Keychain._ She noted when said boy and Rain walked into the room.

"Hey Kairi," Sora began, apparently unaware of Kairi's wardrobe change. "We just fired off the Keychain so we… can…"

The brunette trailed off as his eyes fell upon Kairi, now in her brand new kick-guards, skirt, breastplate and jacket. To Sora, everything else in the world vanished as he saw his own radiant angel standing before him. Sora knew that aesthetic beauty didn't matter in the long run but he couldn't help but feel his heart swoon and flip as he marvelled how the clothing somehow managed to magnify her beauty and vibrant disposition, as if she now brightened all of the Realm of Light.

"Sora?" Kairi peered at her boyfriend who shook his head and snapped out of his funk. "What do you think? A-about my outfit I mean. Do you like it or should I-" Kairi was cut off when Sora went up and kissed her suddenly for the second time. She smiled mentally and embraced the Keyblader. Sora broke from the kiss and rested his chin of her new jacket.

"You're beautiful." He whispered and she smiled, mentally and physically.

And as the two lovers embraced, Claudio and Rain and everyone else in Disney Castle felt a little better about the world they were in, as if the pair of Sora and Kairi made the world and its inhabitants brighter by just being around them.

_This is nice._ Kairi thought as she swayed with her boyfriend. _This is nice, that even in all this strife, love can blossom._

**To Be Continued**

_Woo! That was a bit of a chore to write. And if you are wondering why I am updating today, it is because I will be away this weekend so cannot update. But hey! Hope you all liked this!_

_Also, if you note the part where the group gives Mickey, Donald and Goofy fake names I used the voice actors for Sora, Kairi, Roxas and Namine while I used to other well known VA's for Claudio and Rain. Rain's (Kari Wahlgren) has worked for two Square-Enix projects before, playing Shelke the Transparent in Dirge of Cerberus and Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca in Final Fantasy XII._

_As for Claudio's (Vic Mignogna) all I have to say is Edward Elric. He's that prolific._

_One new Keyblader (a secret one) and two new summon charms! Also, for those who care, the one that Riku got in Ch. 17 summons Cecil Harvey, the protagonist from Final Fantasy IV (Final Fantasy II here in North America). Here are the descriptions and clues for the respective charms._

_The passage from the chapter for Sora's charm:_

_"Sora checked over his, the image in his oval looked like it was constructed from neon light tubes, showing the outline of a man in a trench coat with a sword hefted over his shoulder."_

_The summoned character is the star of a Capcom video game series. He is a half-demon, demon hunter know for his diet of pizza and ice cream sundaes and the large debts he can never seen to rid himself of._

_The passage from the chapter for Kairi's charm:_

_"Kairi looked at her charm, a feeling of honour washing over her for being given a charm like this. Hers had the image of a sun that had been drawn in the style of a Japanese ink painting."_

_The summoned character is also a Capcom character, staring in one game that was developed by Clover Studios. She is the physical avatar of the sun god, whose game has won several "Game of the Year" Awards._

_Also, to repeat, if you have a Story Alert or have this story under your Favourites, please drop a review._

Journal Set #7

Starxys

The Eleventh-Ranked Immortal, Starxys acts like a bit of a whimp and a bumbling boob but can quickly change his disposition in a flash, as we learned very quickly. He arrived on Disney Castle with intent to travel to the past and kill King Mickey. We thwarted him in the past but he escaped to the present and tried to cause havoc in Disney Castle, where we defeated him again. He wields an electric energy guitar into battle, using several energy-based and electrical attacks as well as attacks that involve sound and dimensions.

Waltz Highwynder

The last Dragoon left in the Realm of Light, now serving at Disney Castle. Waltz's world and family were destroyed by the Heartless and so he finds solace at the Castle with his duty and job as Castle Protector. Waltz started as cold and unpleasant to us, arguing at every turn and doubting our abilities but he soon showed his true colours, throwing his life on the line to protect Disney Castle from Starxys. As a result of these actions, Waltz earned a Keyblade from Sora.

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	20. Running the Gauntlet

_Angelo: Hey there everyone, sorry this chapter is late and off schedule but the past couple weeks have been weird._

_Cage: That's code for "He's being lazy"._

_Angelo: Don't you have a job to do? Y'know, figure out a way to squeeze in more reviews?_

_Cage: Whatever..._

_Angelo: On the topic of reviews...well you know the begging routine by now, just please review for my sake that'd be great. This chapter is great but it sets up plot points for a major couple of events within the next 10 chapters or so...so yeah, keep your eyes out for that. I also saw both Spamalot and the Dark Knight...at this point I really can't say anything about DK that hasn't already been said so just go see it. And as for Spamalot, if it is in your town (I believe it is in Edmonton now) I recommend you see it if your a Monty Python fan. Anyways, enjoy the chapter._

Chapter 20: Running the Gauntlet

Riku, Ed and Al, running at full speed, made a sharp turn into a dead-end. Having encountered this before in their flight through Agrabah, Ed clapped his hands together and pressed them to the wall as he ran towards it, light flashing from the area he touched and making the stone around the wall part for an entrance for the three. Ed sealed the wall back up and fell down onto his rear, breathing loudly from the chase. Riku knelt against the wall and huffed and puffed, sweat drenching his hair and clothing.

"Damn it, that was too close." The Elric brothers looked up at the warrior of Dawn, Ed as exhausted as Riku, Al perfectly fine because he lacked respiratory organs…or any organs for that matter. Riku crouched and breathed in, the air being cooler lower to the ground than when he was standing up. "You know this is your fault Ed."

Ed's face flashed in anger at the accusation. "What? This is my fault? How?"

"If you had managed to keep your temper like I told you to, then we wouldn't be in this mess." Riku snapped at the alchemist, matching the anger on the blonde boy's face perfectly. "That little spat of yours in the bazaar attracted Razoul's attention and that attracted the Princess's attention to me." Ed turned away with a pout.

"Pfft, you know if it wasn't for me and Al you would be in prison right about now."

As angry as Riku was, he had to admit that Edward was right, but only to himself. The alchemical skills of the Elric brothers allowed the trio to make doors into alleyways and creating walls to block off any pursuers. If he had been caught, Riku would probably just knock the guards out before they grabbed him, but he didn't say this to Ed, he let the short kid have his moment.

Al's hollow, metallic voice cut through the hair. "What do we do now?"

"We have to get out of the city." Riku said in response. "If we don't then we risk getting tossed into jail."

Ed scoffed at that, to. "You do realize that this city is surrounded by a desert."

"Well I have visited here before." The ever-cynical Keyblader shot back. "We just need to camp out until nightfall, then we can get through the desert without risk…well, without much risk."

"And what do we do after that?" Al asked.

"I honestly don't know." Riku sighed. He rested his head on his fist, his elbow on his knee and thought for a second. "If we could just get a minutes worth of time with Jasmine or Aladdin…it would never work. Damn that knight! If Terra had put Sora or Kairi with us it would be a lot simpler."

"Hey!" Ed smacked his hand into his palm, jumping up and grinning. "Why don't we, me and Al, try and get an audience with that Princess. Or maybe we could find that Aladdin guy and talk to him. He doesn't know we know you, we could tell him we're friends with Sora. He'd believe that, right." Riku was nowhere near as optimistic as Edward.

"Wouldn't work. The Princess saw you guys with me. By now everyone in the city and their mothers will be on the look out for a white haired teenager travelling with a blonde kid in a red coat and a giant, walking suit of armour." Ed deflated as his plan fell apart.

"Then what can we do?"

"There isn't anything we can do!" Riku despaired, standing up and pacing. He rubbed his temples, creased his forehead and tried everything to get his brain thinking of a way out of this situation.

He got nothing.

_This is infuriating!_ He screamed in his head, taking a punch at the wall and instantly regretting it as his knuckles throbbed. _It's bad enough that I'm here but I have to get the Elric's wrapped up in my past! It's not fair! Why do I have to go through with this stuff, it's the past it should stayed buried! Sora should be the one coming to this world and I should be going to the new worlds._ He ended his thoughts to see the Elrics thinking of their own plans, obviously noting Riku was coming up with absolutely nothing.

"Do you guys have any ideas?" Riku asked the two alchemists.

"Well, we've been thinking." Al responded. "Nothing that qualifies as a solid plan but at least we have ideas. You said that everyone in the city would be looking for us, right?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah."

"And since you've committed crimes against the crown so I assume there'll be a reward for your head?" Ed took a guess. Riku scowled at the thought but he had to admit it would be true.

"Your point."

"People will be searching every inch of the city so eventually someone will find us in this alley." Ed continued. "Odds aren't with us on this one my friend."

"And before you say we could just transmute our way out of here, they would probably be able to figure out our strategy and encircle us." Alphonse took the words right out of Riku's mouth and shot his plan down at the same time.

"And what do you two suggest?" The brothers looked at each other, obviously not thinking up this contingency. Ed was the one to answer.

"Take our chances in the desert. Probably got the same odds if we stay in the town and Al can't pass out from the heat like us so we have that going for us."

"If we want to make a break for it then we got to do it now." Riku stated. Their plan was good in principle but he knew that the desert could be risky business. But nevertheless, he nodded in agreement and the three set off out from the alley, sticking to shadowing back roads and moving as quickly, silently and shrewdly as they could. Riku eschewed all communication excluding sign language so they could make their way through the city without drawing unwanted attention.

Sticking to the back alleys was definitely the smartest move they could have made as most of the citizens and guards were searching on the main roads first. In no time at all, the trio made it to a broken down, out of use gate that lead out of the city. The wood was splintered and shattered and several bricks were falling down around it but it would be no problem to an alchemist. Luckily, this party contained two of them.

"Hurry up Ed." Riku ordered impatiently, anxiously pacing around the gate as the Elric brothers went to work on the door. "Can't you guys transmute that thing faster?"

"We're going as fast as we can!" Ed barked, never turning away from his work. "This is a triple order for us, you know. We gotta clear away both sets of rubble and then make the door through whatever is behind this." The diminutive boy rubbed his chin in thought. "But first we gotta figure out what all this junk is made of." Ed then turned back into his workaholic self, getting absorbed in his calculations, mumbling to himself.

"Okay…limestone, sandstone…what else? Basalt? No. Uh…maybe granite…or is it a composite? And what is the wood made of?"

Al snapped his brother out of it. "Maybe we should just treat the entire mass as carbon. You know, hedge our bets and get out quickly?"

"But what if it backfires Al? An explosion that big would draw everyone right to us and could injure one of us big time."

"But we don't have that many options, brother."

"Would you two just do something?" Riku snapped loudly at the alchemical brothers. He exhaled through his nose and calmed down, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "Sorry guys, its just…I have a really bad feeling…I mean REALLY bad. And it's getting worse by the second."

Ed blew him off. "So what? You have a bad feeling. We're supposed to be trusting your gut now or something." Riku looked up at the alchemist, aqua eyes shining with fear.

"Ed, when I get a feeling this bad of a feeling, you should trust it!"

And, much to the grievance of Riku later on, his point was just about to be validated.

"…Hey, quit messing around you guys. We're suppose to be on the lookout for those people that caused that ruckus in the bazaar."

For the second time that day, Riku's heart sunk at the sound of a voice.

Answering the voice, a young male, was a series of incoherent squawking and chattering. Answering that was a very loud and obnoxious voice. "Yeah, what the fuzzball said. How do we even know who these people look like?"

"That guard said we would recognize them on sight." Rapid, bestial chattering answered the voice once again. "I think the guard said they'd look out of place"

Answering this time was the obnoxious voice. "What, like Sora and those guys?"

"I suppose."

Riku had turned pale, ghostly white at the sound of the three voices. Despite the heat, he was shivering in a cold, slick sweat and breathing heavier than when he finished the flight through the city.

"Uh, Riku?" Al had turned away from his work to talk to the petrified Keyblader. "Riku? Riku!" That snapped him out of it. "What's going on?"

Riku pivoted around and roared at the Elric brothers with equally parts fear and rage. "Ed! You open us a door to the desert or we're going to have hell to pay! I don't care if you backfire and blow off both your legs, both your arms, your head and reduce your brother to a smouldering heap of scrap iron! You get us a door open and do it now!"

Ed scowled at the raging command but still clapped his hands together. "Ya know, a 'Ed, please do the Transmutation' would have sufficed." He shot back sarcastically as he worked the rubble away and shaped the rotting wood into a door, as if turning back the clock. He smiled at his work and nodded back to Riku. "Okay bud, let's blow this Popsicle stand!"

Too bad it was too late.

Walking down one of the two main roads that lead to where the party was was a man in baggy, well-worn and threadbare pants, a purple vest and a red fez on top of his black hair. Flapping at shoulder level was a red parrot with a ridiculously large beak and scattering at the feet of the man was a brown monkey with a similar fez and vest.

When they walked into the terrace, both Riku and the man in the vest froze as their eyes met, Riku from fear and the man from shock.

"Damn it," muttered Riku before watching the man's face turn into a scowl of anger.

"You!" He pointed at Riku, practically ignoring the Elrics. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Riku exhaled, reading himself to face the music. "Hey Aladdin, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Riku tried to sound as casual and off-handed as possible but Aladdin's scowl remained frozen on his face. Sighing, Riku continued despite the tangible tension in the air.

"Listen…I just want-"

Aladdin wouldn't have any of it. "To what? Apologize for what you did?" Riku became crestfallen and gave the former thief a sullen nod. "There is no way you can apologize for what happened the last time you were here." Riku's expression turned into an even more hurt one. "I bet you were the source of all that trouble, weren't you? You came back here to try and kidnap Jasmine again! You and your cronies."

Ed's anger flared quickly. "Crony? How dare-" Riku shot him a scathing look, telling him 'Now is not the time, idiot'. As soon as Ed got the message, Riku turned back to Aladdin.

"That was a different time Aladdin, okay. I've changed, reformed. What I did back then…I didn't really know what I was doing…my mind was being manipulated by the darkness." The thief wasn't buying it but the white-haired Keyblade kept on trying. "Ever since I learned the truth about what I was doing, I've lived in hell…remembering every damn memory of that darkness I wallowed in…I…I know it won't be enough to turn back the clock or will heal over any wounds but…I'm sorry…it's all my fault and I'm sorry."

And this was the truth; Riku had been living in hell for all that time. For what he did on Agrabah, Beast's Castle, Neverland and everywhere else he had travelled to. For every action he did and all the chaos that he'd brought. He had wallowed in pure darkness and suffered every memory over and over and now he knew what it meant to lose everything that you are and everything you wanted to be, to trade it all in for power. His greed and jealousy brought him to the brink of oblivion, hanging over the edge of the precipice…his fate, death. But he had been lucky and he began the slow, upward climb to regain his self and what he once stood for. Was it worth it? All that pain and suffering just to get back what he had and nothing new? If you asked him that question on any day until the day he died he would say yes. But all of that aside, even if he had regained his self he still needed to regain face in front of the people he hurt and redeem himself completely.

_That_ would be the hard part.

Aladdin's expression had failed to soften during Riku's moment of introspection but he noticed that he had failed to draw a weapon. Considering that Aladdin probably wasn't expecting a fight, Riku deduced that his sword would be in a safe place, and for that, Riku was grateful. The parrot, Iago, had flown down and landed on the dirt road in front of Aladdin, fluttering before landing with no grace and in an undignified manner.

"Hey, Al." Iago squawked in his loud voice. "Why don't you let the kid off the hook, huh? I mean, six months ago I was a villain and now look at me! Chillin' with the hero of the city. Don't you think he deserves a chance too?" The monkey Abu screeched in what Riku could only hope was agreement.

Aladdin shook his head at both animals. "Guys, I can't do that. Iago I could forgive but him…that _thing_," Riku winced mentally, remembering that Beast had used the same word and tone when referring to him as well. "He did something that no one should be able to forgive."

"Sora forgave him!" Al shouted in his high, childish voice. Every turned to the suit of armour. "Sora forgave him. After all that happened between the two, Sora managed to forgive him, and Kairi too. Everyone did, because Riku is a good person…he just did some really bad things but he definitely deserves better treatment from you!"

"Yeah, my brothers right!" Ed hollered in agreement, stepping forward and making motions to give his words some extra 'oomph'. "So Riku did some rotten things in the past? Big deal! We all make mistakes and our bud deserves to rectify his mistake. You can't tell me that you haven't done something that you regret in your past." Aladdin's eyes moved away from Ed's for a moment, just a moment. But Ed still caught. "You see! And I bet you would want a second chance for that event. If you get one then Riku should too!"

Riku smiled at the rousing words of defence from his allies. He had only been travelling with the Elric's for a few days but they were his friends now and to go up to bat for him like Sora and Kairi did back on Beast's Castle. And it made it even better knowing that he would do the same for Ed and Al if the three of them went back to Amestris and encountered something from their past.

Aladdin's expression had completely fallen from his face and reshaped into one of depression and pity. "Okay…maybe I was a little hard on Riku but…he still can't just waltz into Agrabah and expect total forgiveness."

"I never was expecting that Aladdin." Riku retorted, his normal tone of voice and level of confidence restored. "I was expecting to have to work for it, to go through some sort of trial or tribulation. No redemption without penance, if you get my drift." Riku gestured around him with wide-stretched arms and shouted, "So tell me, what should I do? What can I do for my penance?"

Aladdin paused in shock, not expecting Riku to be so forward about his punishment. He thought for a second about what he could make Riku do to prove his worth and then he realized how bad it would be to force a man so willing to redeem himself through some kind of hellacious trial. Before he could tell the white-haired warrior of Dawn his revelations a loud voice boomed through the skyline above the city.

"HHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!"

"Oh, double damn it." Riku swore as everyone peered upward to the source of the noise.

Aladdin had the same doom around him as Riku. "Genie…" he moaned. "Not now."

The aforementioned blue being of near-unlimited, semi-infinite cosmic powers descended from the sky in his usual colourful, theatrical, over-the-top and comical style. "Hello Agrabah! And guess who is back from yet another vacation? It's everyone's absolute favourite big, blue Djinni…ME!!" Genie swooped from the sky, circled around the four humans and two animals and swooped up Ed into a flying bear hug. "Oh Al! It's so good to see you again buddy! Man alive, you have no idea how exciting America was…its kind of a shame that in about a thousand years, its all gonna be ruined! But look at you kiddo…you're so…short!"

Ed, who was already angry at being lifted into the sky into a bone-breaking, organ-squishing hug by a total stranger, was now utterly livid at hearing the accursed S-word.

"SHORT!! SHORT!! HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A MINITUARE PIXIE NO TALLER THAN A GRAIN OF RICE!!"

Spazzing out, Ed broke away from Genie's hug and continued his rant. "You bastard, I'm going to – oh crap!" Ed just realized he was around twenty-feet in the air and, of course, once he realized this gravity happened. Yelling as he plummeted, Ed was fortunate enough not to land on the ground…but rather landing back first on the shoulder of his brother, who was scrambling back and forth to catch Ed. The State Alchemist let loose of yelp of pain and twitched feebly from his cradle on the armoured shoulder.

"Brother, are you okay?" Al asked dubiously as his brother moaned in pain, replacing his cries of rage.

"…my back…" Ed responded feebly.

Genie, having realized he had grabbed the wrong person, had floated down to ground level. Unfortunately, before this he had caught a good glimpse of Riku and jumped to the same inevitable conclusion that both Al and Jasmine had.

"So you have come back for more, eh punk?" Genie asked in a peeved voice, wagging an accusatory finger at Riku. Genie then spun around and morphed into an atypical gangster, speaking with an over-the-top Italian accent. "Youse think your such a wise guy? Well youse came back to the wrong part o' time, youse little rat!"

"Genie, listen…" Aladdin tried to reason to the former spirit of the lamp but the blue lug was beyond reason, drowning out Al's protest.

Genie, in the meantime, had morphed into battered and bruised boxer wearing American flag trunks. "Yo, Adrian! You think you can just walk into my ring and expect to leave with out a black eye?" The boxer-Genie started shadow boxing and doing some fancy footwork. "Put 'em up! Put 'em up I say!"

Ed just stared beyond all belief. "Is this guy for real?" He whispered over Riku's shoulder.

"Unfortunately, yeah." Riku replied with doom in his voice once more. "Edward and Alphonse, Genie. Genie, Edward and Alphonse." Riku made an obligatory introduction in a droll and dull manner before addressing the true subject at hand. "Listen Genie, I am not here to fight you, just ask Al…uh…Aladdin, not Alphonse. I am trying to redeem for my mistakes. So I won't fight you."

Genie morphed back into his true form and looked at Riku for a second. "Okay, you won't fight me…but I still think we can have you running about all free as a bird. So…" Genie flew up into the sky and vanished in a poof of light before reappearing…as around a thousand copies of him. The Genie clones were all dressed as Army men, Naval officers, air force pilots, police officers, SWAT members, firefighters and even French chefs and ice cream men. Needless to say, Ed, Al and Riku backed away at the display of magic and theatrics.

"Okay, Riku, you're the expert at combat," Ed began nervously, inching away from the Genie clones. "How do we fight these guys?" Riku had to chuckle to himself at the odds they faced and the stupidity of the question.

"Simple Ed: we don't. We fight them and we'll die. Simple as that."

But, thankfully, Aladdin, Iago and Abu were all trying their best to reason with the Genie clones to let Riku go. Unfortunately, footsteps could be heard over the constant squabbling. Uniform footsteps, marching in a specific pattern, Riku heard them and knew what was coming next.

The Agrabah guards marched down the second street leading to the terrace, lead by Razoul and Jasmine. The Captain and Princess spotted Riku instantly and barked orders, although the loud din now taking place in the terrace drowned them out. In an instant, everyone was yelling at everyone, trying to explain what was going on. Each person decided to shout now and not wait. Ed, Al, Riku, Genie and all his clones, Aladdin, Iago, Abu, Jasmine, Razoul and all the guards voiced their opinions until nothing could be heard or discern specifically, it was just one loud, roaring mass of voices with no substance to them.

_BANG!!_

The preceding sound cut through the air, silencing everyone at once and drawing all the eyes to the source. A young man in a turban with an almond shape faced stood atop the terrace…actually he was _floating_ atop the terrace. He was wearing fine clothing, such that befitting a Sultan and his right arm was enwrapped in a gauntlet. Aladdin, Genie and Jasmine all scowled at the strange man as he sneered with contempt at everyone in the terrace.

"What are you doing here, Mozenrath?" Aladdin snapped at the man. Riku guessed they were mortal enemies considering Aladdin's tone when referring to the magician.

"I am here to perform duties for my employer." Mozenrath said banefully at the once street rat.

"And would that employer happen to be Maleficent?" Riku roared at Mozenrath.

This caused the Arabian man to chuckle. "You are well informed, ex-apprentice of Maleficent. I must say it is very un-serendipitous for you to be on this world. But no matter, you are not my concern right now." The Arab snapped his fingers and boomed. "Heartless! Show yourselves now! Fetch me the Princess and the Street Rat! All other you may do to as you please."

Inky black portals began to form in the terrace with all manners of Heartless crawling out of them, beady yellow eyes dead set on Aladdin and Jasmine. Without any hesitation, Riku and Ed summoned their Keyblades and Al transmuted himself a spear for himself. Aladdin, not having brought his blade, nicked one off of a hapless guard and bared it against his dark foes. He then spotted Way to the Dawn and Fullmetal Fury.

"You guys have Keyblades?" Aladdin asked with wide-eyes. Riku smirked at the tone of surprise in Aladdin's voice, realizing that his one-time enemy now had the weapon of his long-time ally.

"That we do, Aladdin." Riku flashed Way to the Dawn around and swiped through hordes of Heartless in one, fluid motion.

Considering their recent training against Hollow Heartless, Ed, Al and Riku had no difficulties whatsoever against the Heartless battalion summoned by Mozenrath. The job was done within ten minutes, giving the warriors a satisfied feeling but then they realized something.

Aladdin and Jasmine were gone!

Riku noticed that the guards were in a panic and that Genie, Iago and Abu were running around, yelling at the top of their lungs. He also noticed no one was paying any attention to him or the Elrics. Tapping the brother's on the shoulders, he motioned to the transmuted gate, they took the hint and ran for it, sealing up the smashed gate as they left and marching out into the unforgiving desert of Agrabah.

"So…the point of that was?" Ed asked in a peeved tone of voice as the sun beaded down on them even stronger than before.

"Everyone is focused on where Aladdin and Jasmine have gone too, it's our chance to make a run for it." Riku explained, trudging through the sand in a specific direction. "Plus, if Mozenrath is working for Maleficent then we kinda have to stop him."

"And where exactly do we go to find that weirdo?" Ed demanded impatiently. Riku flashed him a sly grin.

"You should know me by now Ed, I'm full of surprises." Riku pointed in the direction he had been walking. "I can sense energy types and both Mozenrath and Jasmine give off distinct energy signatures so sensing them is easy. I know they are in that direction. Can't tell you how far we got to go but we at least have something to go by."

Riku walked away from the alchemist brothers, leaving both of them to blink at his flimsy plan. "This is our plan!" Ed raged. "To walk blindly into the desert for an unknown amount of time? Oh, great plan! Great friggin' plan!" Despite his protest, Ed quickly scampered off to join Riku and Al followed his brother soon after for their death-defying romp through the desert.

Underneath the merciless suns, the three walked in the direction Riku pointed them to, across the scolding sand and through the barren wasteland that surrounded Agrabah. Riku kept his mouth tight throughout the march, understanding that this was his chance at redemption, the opportunity he had been looking for. Defeating Mozenrath was his mission but he needed to rescue Aladdin and Jasmine to save face and possibly his own skin. That one thought was the only thing that kept his mind off the demonic, blazing ball of death hanging above his head. Riku lived on an island where sunshine was plentiful but he soon found out how island sun and desert sun differed. On an island you would get a muggy marine layer early in the day and a nice, cool breeze throughout the rest of the day. But in the desert, no such breeze or relief came to them. It was just steady heat from the sun and any breeze was hot, fast and would whip sand into their faces. Within one hour, both Ed and Riku were exhausted and at the point of collapse from their death march.

"This is ridiculous," complained Ed as sweat ran slick down his tiny frame. He too had experience with a desert but the desert around Lior was nothing like the one here…for starters Lior's desert had and end to it! "We have no idea how far we have to travel but if we go back it will take an hour to get back to Agrabah. If head onward, we die. If we go back, we die. If we stay here, we – hey, where's Al?"

"What?" Riku looked back and saw that only the blonde State Alchemist-slash-Keyblader following him, with no sign of his armoured little brother. "Where the hell did he go?" Riku shouted. "How did you lose him?"

"'Lose him?' What? This is my fault again?" Ed shot back to his fellow Keyblader.

"Yes! Yes it was!" Riku yelled back. "I was the head of the group, Al was walking next to you, he should have been in your line of sight the entire time." Ed completely ignored Riku's validated point and started to dart around the dune they were standing on and shout for his brother.

"Al! Al! Come on, Al! Where are you?" Edward was performing a comical search routine across the dune as Riku looked on, not knowing what to think. Not before long, a hand reach out of the sand and gripped onto Ed's ankle, causing the alchemist to scream and leap about six-feet into the air. Al's large, metal vessel soon rose out of the sand.

"Sorry brother," Al apologized meekly. Ed regained his composure and stared his brother down.

"What the hell happened? How did you get there?"

"I got full." Al admitted bashfully.

"Full? Full of what?" Ed jumped up and kicked Al right in the torso, causing the chest plate to unhinge and dump a load of sand onto Ed.

"Sand." Stated Al simply as his brother climbed out of his personal dune, sputtering up sand.

"God I hate deserts." Bemoaned the half-buried alchemist. "It's hot, sandy and I can't even transmute anything. Hell, there isn't even any grass to transmute into bread!"

Sitting on the top of a dune, Riku looked at the two brothers with a half-amused smirk. "Okay, are you two done, now?" Riku asked, standing up and wiping the half grin of his face. "We still have to get to Mozenrath, in case you have forgotten."

Ed stared at the white-haired teenager. "You know you should be more grateful, having us on your team." Ed looked to Al who gave him a clueless look. "I mean, without us your life would probably be completely devoid of humour."

That caused Riku to grin again. "No. I already have two clowns in my life." He said, wiping a mass of sweat from his forehead. "Their names are Sora and Kairi." He offered a hand to Ed and lifted him from the sand pile and pointed to where they needed to go. "Let's keep on moving."

But it was easier to say that then actually doing it. Within only a half hour both Riku and Ed had gone from marching to their destination to shuffling and shambling aimlessly with weary looks on their faces. Al was unaffected by the heat but his armour was conducting heat so much that just standing two-feet from him would actually cause a burning sensation on any open skin. Ed and Riku didn't want to know what would happen if they touched Al's armour. Not before long both Keyblade Masters were sapped of their strength from the walk through the heat and sand, barely able to stand up or walk in a straight line.

"Damn…it…" Ed panted, collapsing to his knees. "I told y…told you…this was…stupid…" Riku barely had the strength to shoot Ed a scathing look before he too fell to his knees.

"Brother! Riku! Come on! Please, don't collapse!" Al urged but was afraid to move forward to increase the heat around them or to accidentally touch them and burn them. "We have to do this, it's our job! Riku, what about saving Aladdin and Jasmine?"

Riku huffed from the exhaustion overtaking his body. "We have to…have to…save…" he couldn't get the words out as the exhaustion washed over his body, wave after wave. Unable to get up onto both legs, he began to crawl ahead on his hands and knees. "Al…wrap Ed up…wrap him in his…his…jacket and carry him…so he won't…won't burn…we need to…" He inched himself forward, his goal weighing heavily on his mind, telling his weakened body to crawl forward, urging it to go one more inch and then an inch more. "Need to…go…save…need to prove…past is…"

All of his limbs turned to water and gave out on him, his open mouth falling into the blazing hot sand. Gritting his teeth despite his exhaustion, he clawed into the sand and tried to pull himself up. He couldn't though, as his eyelids turning to lead as the heat overtook every urge in his body. The last thing he heard or sensed was Al's cries of distress for him and his brother before the world turned black.

**KHKHKH**

Claudio stepped out of the shower in his and Rain's room, breathing heavily with a towel hung around his shoulders. He rubbed his weary eyes, took one last wipe of his hair and sat down on his bed in a heap. Only then did he notice that Rain was leaning against the doorframe to their bedroom. Claudio chuckled to himself as he saw her, thanking he had put on a pair of black jeans before leaving the bathroom. He smiled wearily and sat on the bed, cross-legged Indian style, as she stalked over and sat on the edge of the bed, stroking his hair lightly. He returned the favour, dragging the petite woman into his lap so he could stroke her fine, auburn hair. She soon pulled away and looked at him with those vibrant green eyes.

"You left dinner in a hurry tonight." She said casually. "Any reason as to why?"

"I'm exhausted." Claudio admitted in a not too proud tone. Rain managed to barely suppress a giggle at the truthful response.

"That's it? You're tired?" She let loose a hearty laugh, leaving Claudio with a half-embarrassed, half-puzzled look on his face. "You. Are tired? You who fought three Organization members simultaneously?" He nodded shamefully and she laughed again.

Grimacing at the humour his wife found in the situation, Claudio covered her mouth with one hand. "I took too much damage today and used way too much energy." Elaborated the warrior. "It has been like half a decade since I've been forced to use that much energy or take that much damage to my body." Rain gave him a concerned look at the last statement. "What is it?"

"Your body."

"Well I like it too but I don't think its safe to have sex when those two are still up."

"No, no you idiot." Rain said with a halfway disgusted look on her face. "I mean, you said it took too much damage today. Do you…" A fearful look glimmered in her eyes. "Do you think it will begin to deteriorate…or has begun?" Claudio's face softened at the concern in her voice. He drew her to his shoulder and began to stroke her head softly again.

"No. No. No." He whispered repeatedly in a hushed voice. "Don't think that. We should still have eight-years or so before it happens. That what you said would happen, right?" He pushed her back and looked into her eyes again. "Right. We still have time."

Another look crossed Rain's face. "Why are you thinking that? We can't do it. You know we can't, we've been through this before. We can't live a normal life after this."

"Why can't we?"

"Because, we aren't…normal. We are designed to slink back into the shadows and stay there until we go…we can't-"

"We made a promise to her parents!" Claudio rose up from the bed, rage flaring in his eyes. "We made a vow to protect her!"

"_You_ made a vow! Not _us_. There is no _we_ when it comes to that! We can't do any of that stuff. Move to the Garden, move to the Islands. Live with Kairi, defend her and protect her. We _can't_. It is not possible."

"And why is it not possible?" He shouted, afraid that the yelling would attract others and afraid of himself for using this tone with Rain. "Why can't we live a normal life? Why must we remain in darkness? Why are you so dead set on having us hide until we die? Give me a damn answer?"

"Because they will find out the truth sooner or later! They will know who we really are!"

Claudio sat back down on the bed, running his finger through his still damp and tangled hair. His face was blank except for his eyes burning with rage, a rage that could only be seen in Claudio's eyes during battle. They were fear inspiring and hateful and they that raging fire was lit because of his wife. And as angry as he was with his wife and the argument, the greatest emotion in his heart was a burning loathing…for himself. For getting angry with his wife…it sickened him to his core.

Swallowing baneful bile, he got up from the bed, put on a random t-shirt that was lying discarded on the floor and stormed out of the room. But not before leaving Rain one last warning.

"Would it be so bad to let them know the truth? If they are going to find out, wouldn't it be better for them to find out from us, rather than them."

And then he left.

And then she cried.

**KHKHKH**

Something cold hit him in the face.

Gasping and sputtering, Riku sat up in a flash from the shock of being hit by something cold. It felt almost foreign to him after the heat of the desert. When he finally gathered his wits back together he saw Al and Ed, the latter conscious and guzzling down bottle after bottle of bottled water. He also noticed a blue bucket next to him with a tiny puddle of water still in it.

Blinking past the water drizzling from his hair, Riku turned to Al and asked, "Where did you find the bucket and water." He snatched up the blue bucket and eyed it. Al rubbed the back of his helmet nervously.

"Well Riku, you see…" Al began to trail off and before he could finish, a goofy face popped into life on the bucket a stared at Riku. Both Ed and Riku jumped in shock at the revelation, Ed screaming at the top of his lungs before landing on Al and then screaming yet again after touching the hot steel. Riku though, kept most of his cool and realized what was going on.

"Genie?" Riku asked the bucket, now floating in hair, with the face still on it. The levitating pale bobbed up and down, Genie's form of a nod in this form. "Wha-what are you doing here? Why are you helping us?"

Genie morphed back into his regular form in a puff of blue smoke and rested a hand on Riku's shoulder. "Well you know that little spat everyone had in Agrabah?" Riku nodded. "Well Al – Aladdin not you Steely – told me what you had told him and after you guys left I got to thinking about all that stuff he told me. Figuring you were the best chance I had at rescuing Al and Jasmine, I went off tryin' to find you guys but what do I find?" There was a pause, the three travellers looking at one another during it. "Well," Genie said impatiently.

"Well what?" Ed asked.

"Aren't you going to ask what I found?"

Riku sighed. "What did you find Genie?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Genie exclaimed, zipping around the air with restored enthusiasm. "What I found was you two," he pointed to Ed and Riku, "Totally sawing Z's with Iron Man over here running about like a madman." Genie then pulled out his usual schtick and morphed into Ozzy Osbourne. "And you see mate, I've been meaning to ask you, how the (bleep) do you run around in that (bleep)ing armour in the middle of a (bleep)ing desert."

Before Ed and Al could cover, Riku jumped the gun and said, "Never mind that stuff! We gotta find Mozenrath and rescue Aladdin and Jasmine."

"Right you are kiddo!" Genie gave him the finger-guns and spun around in the air a few times. "And for you, oh former servant of the darkness and ex-adversary to the city of Agrabah, we can only do that in one way of transport. First class!" Genie whistled loudly and flying down from the sky was a flying, purple, Arabian carpet. The rug zipped around and hovered near the ground, using a tassel to motion for the others to climb aboard.

"Aren't you coming on Ed?" Alphonse asked as he tested how Carpet could support his weight.

Ed backed away from the hovering Carpet. "Yeah, no thanks." Ed answered. "That thing is a rug. You sit on rugs you put tables on them. You don't fly on them to a battle against a megalomaniac from the darkness."

Riku looked down on the alchemist from his seat on carpet. "Listen Ed, either you get on Carpet, or after I beat Mozenrath, I'm burring you under half the desert." Ed paused for a second before climbing onto Carpet, but not without a few muffled complaints and grumbled threats.

Compared to walking through the hellish desert, flying aboard carpet made the trip a breeze and in no time they were skimming over a desolate ruin with three figures within them. The ruins were nothing more than a few weather worn sandstone pillars and archways with a few loose blocks scattered about the ruin. The group spotted Jasmine and Aladdin chained to separate archways with Mozenrath pacing in front of the two captives.

"What do you want with us, Mozenrath?" Jasmine demanded of the wicked Arabian.

"What do I want?" Mozenrath mused with a grin on his face. "Well I don't want anything, but Maleficent would like you once more my dear, for her grandiose schemes."

"Then why am I here?" Aladdin seethed at his enemy, rattling his chains in an empty threat.

Mozenrath chuckled at the spectacle. "You have been a thorn in my side for quite a while you pathetic street rat. And since I have been given these amazing powers, frankly I thought it would be a treat to me to eliminate you when I hold all the power." He then broke out into a clichéd villainous laugh. "And with no one knowing where you are and the Keyblade Master probably being hung by the city, I can't be stopped!"

"You sure you don't wanna rethink that last statement?"

The three Arabs looked up to see Riku leaping off of carpet, Way to the Dawn gripped in his hand. Gold and black marbled light enwrapped the blade and it began to change shape into a spear made of energy.

"Penumbra Partisan!"

The spear lengthened so that Riku could thrust at Mozenrath without landing. He did just that, forcing Mozenrath to move away from him. Landing, Riku spun around and jabbed at the villain with his energy spear, the lance now over twelve-feet long, Mozenrath ably dodged the strikes before catching the tip in his hand and throwing Riku back. He then unleashed a swathe of dark fire at the boy, forcing him to spin away. Unfortunately, he forgot he was standing on sand and nearly lost his balance and was almost incinerated for the miscalculation.

By this, Ed, Al and Genie had all landed, with Ed slamming his Keyblade into a pillar, drawing a steel spear out of it and tossing it to Al.

"I didn't know you could do that kind of transmutation, Ed." Riku remarked, catching the action over his shoulder.

"I guess my Keyblade skills have advanced." Ed replied smugly. "I can now create metallic objects from carbon with little to no effort." Riku smirked back at the alchemist with Mozenrath seething ahead of the group.

"You dare mock me by having idle chatter?" The Arab fumed at the Keybladers. "Do you know who I am? I am the great Mozenrath, soon-to-be Ruler of Agrabah!" The heroes didn't seem to care about this and blew off the Arab with cheeky grins. "Then maybe this will change your mind!" Mozenrath placed the gem from his turban and inserted it into his gauntlet. Flexing the now pulsating gauntlet, several portals appeared around him and in addition to the normal slew of Heartless, several Nobodies and Fell Souls slithered from the portals as well.

"What the hell?" Riku said with a shocked look on his face as the white husks, black shadows and demonic beasts circled around them. "Since when can Maleficent's group control Nobodies and Fell Souls?"

Mozenrath sneered in contempt and accomplishment at the remark. "They can't. But I can." He lifted up his gauntlet and tapped the gem. "With this gem I gain control of all the denizens of the dark!"

New to the Nobody brigade where their heavy-hitters, Viking Nobodies, bigger than even Berserkers and just as mean looking. They were heavily armour and sloped over with bent knees and stooped shoulders. They had big bulky shoulder pads and chest plating with round pillars for legs and a stout, round little heads that looked tiny in between the titanic shoulders. In each hand, the Vikings wielded two nasty looking battle-axes.

Riku looked over the new foes with strategic eyes. "Okay, here's the plan," he said in a confident voice, "Genie, you free Jasmine and Aladdin while the three of us will deal with Mozenrath and his little pals." The three others nodded and broke apart to do their duties. Mozenrath grinned as if expecting the plan.

"Have you forgotten the little trick that was given to all of Maleficent's partners?" The Arabian sorcerer raised his hands into the air and a sharp _crack_ rang out through the air.

Several fractures appeared in the skyline and in a process all too familiar to Ed, Al and Riku, the panel of sky shattered revealing a black void. Four hands reach out and grabbed the edges of the hole, the Hollow Heartless pulling its mass out from the portal and into the real world. This Hollow Heartless was smaller than the Fishbone Barbarian and had ruddy red skin with a pale yellow underbelly. Extending from its large, hulking body were four arms ending with razor sharp claws and a long snake tail ending with a cylindrical club. The white mask was more conical this time, giving it an odd bird-like appearance. Yellow eyes were framed within the mask and off-coloured green hair grew from the back of the head. The Heartless emblem was branded on the peak of the mask with a hole locate just above the collarbone. Riku looked at the Acid Royal with contempt in his eyes, realizing that he would finally have a challenge before him.

"Okay, new plan," the warrior of Dawn restated. "Ed and Al deal with the grunts, I got this guy." Before a word could be spoken, Riku dashed forward, kicking up sand with him, and struck at the Royal. His Keyblade bit into the sickly hide of the Heartless but soon he was struck back with a quick tail swipe. With unseemly speed for a creature that size, the Royal began to slither about the desert with blazing speed, circling around Riku with intent to confuse and then strike.

Riku blinked through the kicked up sand before trying a new ability he had been working on. So far most of Dawn-techniques were offensive based but he had developed one mobility style manoeuvre that he had been dieing to try out. Pooling the gold and black energy of Dawn under his feet, he began to test out his new feet before figuring out the motion and moving around with amazing speed. Going even faster than the Hollow Heartless, near 30 miles per hour, Riku was able to out flank and out manoeuvre the massive naga-like monster, much to its frustration.

Riku then began to fire beams of Dawn energy, adjusting for his hyper-fast speed, but he couldn't even graze the beast. He had yet another experimental move in mind and decided that now was the time to give it a test drive.

"Refracting Rays!" An orb of Dawn energy gathered at the tip of his Keyblade and fire off five beams of black and gold light. Zigzagging and darting in everyway, the beams zoomed and arced all over the desert, changing direction each time they missed their targets or came close to hitting an obstacle until all five rays gathered and struck the Heartless at the same time.

Roaring in its inhuman bass, Riku groaned at the monster. "Yeah, yeah, it's a little pain, suck it up, ya big baby." The Acid Royal gathered its wits together and eyed Riku with newfound rage. Riku stared it down as well before gathering more Dawn energy at his Keyblade. "Flames of First Light!" Lighting up his Keyblade was golden and red fire with a core made of jet-black hellfire. He swung the blade in a wide arc and the black-cored flames of Dawn snaked off his blade and spread out into a large, smothering carpet of Dawn-infused fire. The gold and black blaze made contact with two of the beast's arms and proceeded to burn through them, leaving smouldering stumps and a screaming Heartless.

"That is getting real annoying." Riku taunted the Heartless, trashing across the sands in pain, clutching the stumps of its left arms. "I think its time to end this! Solstice Boomerang!" Bright light swirled with shadows surrounded his Keyblade before he hurled it, the blade spinning so fast it looked like it was forming a complete circle. It made contact with the mask of the Heartless and vaporized a part of it, leaving a massive gouge torn from the beast. Roaring in anger, the Hollow Heartless began to dissolve into particles of darkness until nothing remained.

Relishing on his work, Riku returned to the battlefield to see how the other were doing. Carpet and Genie were guarding Jasmine from any enemy stupid enough to wander near them while Ed and Al used their weapons and alchemy to great effect, Ed creating spears and panels of metal from the sand and sandstone to hurl at his enemies. Aladdin was active in the battle, striking left and right with a blade Riku guessed that Ed transmutated for him. Riku observed the battle and saw Ed rifle around the sand for something.

Ed stood up and looked directly at Mozenrath, casually tossing a sandstone brick in his free hand. "Hey, Saddam Insane!" He challenged the sorcerer. "Let's see how tough you are without your friends." Ed hurled the stone into the air, de-summoned his blade and clapped his hands together. "This is a technique that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!" With a palm thrust on the descending brick, he used alchemy to create a large dagger like projectile to shoot from it and directly at Mozenrath.

Not expecting the attack, Mozenrath instinctively brought his arm up to defend…his _right_ arm. The dagger hit the gauntlet, shattering the gem on contact and then breaking the metal. As soon as this happened, the Nobodies and Fell Souls just vanished into darkness, realizing they shouldn't be obeying Mozenrath. But everyone was focusing on what was beneath the gauntlet, a skeletal hand.

"Oh man, that's grotesque." Ed groaned, the others echoing similar statements. Mozenrath's face screwed with anger and rage.

"I will not be made a fool by you pathetic urchins!" Darkness pulsed around his body and he began to levitate into the air, the dark flames growing greater by the second.

Stepping forward, Riku said. "Time to bring out the heavy guns." He reached into his pocket and drew the Paladin Charm he got on the Deep Jungle and gripped it, focusing on the being sealed within it.

"CECIL!"

High above in the skies, a knight in black armour stood vigil on the deck of an airship before breaking off into a sprint across the deck and leaping into the sky. Cape flapping in the wind, the Dark Knight landed on the dunes of the desert, next to his summoner and nodded in his direction.

"I'm here now!" The Dark Knight, Cecil Harvey, proclaimed upon landing. He drew his blade and Riku gripped his Keyblade before both of them dashed across the sands towards Mozenrath.

Taking a hold of Cecil's hand, Riku tossed Cecil into the air, with the knight returning the favour and vaulting Riku towards Mozenrath. The two airborne warriors began to zoom around the air, striking at Mozenrath with elementally charged blades. Their slashes brought the sorcerer down to the ground once again and the two leapt back, getting a good angle to strike him again.

"Soul Eater!" Cecil sheathed his blade and quickly unsheathed it, firing bolts of darkness at Mozenrath. He repeated it over and over, blasting the villain with power darkness strikes while Riku blasted any counters out of the sky.

Trading places, Riku stood behind a kneeling Cecil and fired off repeated Dawn blasts while Cecil held up his shield to deflect incoming blasts.

Following the double barrage, Mozenrath began to hurl dark fireballs at the Keyblader and Summon, forcing them to split. Circling around their foe, Cecil and Riku alternatively hurled their weapons at each other with the other knocking their partner's blade back at Mozenrath before the sorcerer sunk to the ground again.

Standing next to each other, the two began to charge their next move. As Cecil and Riku became enveloped in an aura of light, the dark enamel that was on Cecil's armour began to flake off to reveal shining white armour. The two warriors nodded and raised their blades, shining with the powers of Dawn.

"Darkness transitioning into light…" Cecil began.

"…That is the power of Dawn!" Finished Riku.

Both men slashed downwards and unleashed a massive blade beam of light and Dawn energy. The crescent blade of energy struck the Arab mystic head on and knocked him backwards, gasping for air and coughing up blood.

A portal of light appeared behind Cecil, who was turning to Riku. "Good luck, brave warrior." The paladin saluted Riku before jumping into the portal and warping away.

Crippled and down, darkness began to leak away from Mozenrath as the warriors of light gathered near him. He moaned in pain as his entire body gave way and he life faded from his body.

But, before anyone could celebrate, a figure came into existence standing over the dead villain. She wore white and black boots, a crinkled white skirt with a slit on the left side and a high-collared sleeveless vest. She had slightly tan skin, green eyes and red and black hair. Riku instantly recognized her as one of the Immortals.

"What are you here for?" Riku asked defensively, taking his fighting stance with every intent to charge the woman.

"Not for you, boy." The woman said coldly. "I am here for the fool's heart." She motioned to Mozenrath before flexing her hand and amassing dark electricity around it. She stabbed downward, through Mozenrath's body and causing it to fade into darkness. When she reached her hand from the phantom body, a tiny heart was clutched with it, soon to be absorbed into the Immortal's being.

She turned around with a grand flourish before declaring to Riku, "My name is Arianne, one of the more senior Immortals. Hope that we never meet again, boy." And then she vanished.

"What was that all about?" Jasmine asked.

"It's a long story." Ed replied with a cheeky smile. He then noticed something was wrong with Riku. "What's wrong buddy?"

"Just kinda shocked I can talk with you guys without being lynched." Riku chuckled, causing the others to laugh too. He then extended a hand to Aladdin. "Do you forgive me?"

"Forgive you?" Aladdin said, taken aback. "I owe you for what you did just now." He took Riku's hand and shook heartily.

"He's right Riku." Jasmine said. "We were wrong about you, is there anything we can do to make it up to you?"

"Nope." Riku stated. "I did this to square us. We're even now. The one thing you can do for me is that if I ever enter Agrabah again, make sure the mob doesn't get together and try to stone us." The group laughed again as one of the Blank Keychains rose from Riku's pockets. Riku fires the light through the medallion and their course was set.

"Looks like we're off now." Ed said before adding a "Finally" under his breath.

"Thank you for everything you three did." Aladdin waved the three off and the groups exchanged their goodbyes.

The group walked away from the location of the battle to a safe distance to warp back to the Gummi Ship and as Riku did, he felt a sense of pride and accomplishment rise in his soul and heart. He had resolved a part of his past and he did it without Sora's help. He defeated the foes, washed away part of his darkness and atoned his sins all on his own skills. It was definitely a good day in his books.

**KHKHKH**

Starxys stood at the foot of the towering throne of Cassius, knees knocking and wounds scathing as Cassius gave him the third degree for what he did at Disney Castle.

"But…I thought with the King outta the way it would be…y'know…easier…" Starxys mentally punched himself for his crappy argument. To be brutally honest, he had no idea what he was doing when he planned to kill Mickey Mouse or what the consequence would be. But Cassius did.

"That is the problem Starxys, you didn't think." Cassius admonished the lower ranked Immortal. Starxys cringed at the scathing insult. "If you killed the King in the past do you have any idea what would have happened to the present? Of course you don't, no one does! Some of us may not even exist after that action!" Starxys cringed again as Cassius formed a folder in his hand.

"This is your new assignment." The folder floated down to the musician. "It is to serve as both a mission and a punishment. You are to go to the given world and win over the resident forces, as are allies. You are dismissed, Starxys."

Gripping the folder like a lifeline, Starxys skittered out of Cassius's throne room and into one of the many hallways of Infinity Paradiso, wincing at his wounds and cursing the name of the blonde bitch that gave him aforementioned wounds. He continued down the hall until a voice called out to him.

"Yo! Buddy!" Creed's voice carried through the hall as he paced after Starxys with long-legged strides. "How's it goin' kiddo?" He asked when he finally reached the younger Immortal.

"Not so good, man." Starxys moaned to his friend. "I got my ass kicked by the Key brats and now I've got this assignment that is pretty much a suicide mission..."

"Hold up, those Keybladers beat you?" Starxys nodded in response. "Hmm, interesting. First they beat Aeron, then Josef and Vaniele and now you. I may just have to pay them a little visit in the future." The pondering layabout of an Immortal then turned to Starxys again. "But listen buddy, don't let those suicide missions down. You can't let them get to you. I mean what does that say to the artificial Immortals as a collective."

"Collective?" Starxys raised an eyebrow. "What collective? The artificials are just you and I." Creed rolled his eyes.

"J-just go kiddo." Creed said dully and Starxys marched on his way. "And don't get yourself killed!"

Grumbling and cursing as he went, Starxys reached the hallway containing the Immortal's personal chambers, turning into it he saw someone within the shadows.

"So you saw me, Hendrix." Kaiser drawled, stepping out of the shadows and into full view. "Gotta be pretty sore about losing to those Keyblade punks."

"Yeah…" Starxys admitted, hanging his head in shame to the elder Immortal.

"What if I say that…I can get you revenge." Kaiser smiled wickedly.

"What? What can you do?"

"Actually, it is what we can do." Came the voice of Aeron, also stepping out of the shadows. "Step into our office 11, let's make a deal."

**To Be Continued**

_And another chapter done, sorry about missing last week's update, my schedule was weird last week. And also parts of this do seem rushed but…eh_

_Anyway I don't have much to say about this chapter except that the sections involving Rain, Claudio and the Immortals are very important segments that will lead up to a big event that happen in two to three chapters. Keep an eye out for that one, cause it's a story changer!_

_Once again, if you have me on Story Alert or my story is one of your Favourites, please be kind and drop a review._

_One last thing is that Riku may seem to have eliminated that Hollow Heartless too easily but its because A) Riku has gotten much stronger with his Dawn techniques and B) Acid Royal is actually weaker than Fishbone._

_Please Review! Please, PLEASE, __PLEASE__, __**PLEASE**__ Review!!_

_Sir Angelo_


	21. Fear

_Before anyone says ANYTHING about my absence let me just say this: I know! I know I haven't updated my account or my story in the past two months and essentially vanished off the face of the earth! But I have a good reason! One: my Internet has been out. My laptop has had no Internet since about the beginning of August and since I write all my chapters on it, I have had no way of updating. I also just recently found my long lost flash drive so I can update on our family desktop now. Two: school has obviously started up and I have been rather busy. It is not that my schedule it hectic but rather since I have to stay after school every other day until 5 for play rehearsal I get little time to write. And finally, I have had massive writer's block on this chapter._

_So I have made the decision to go on a bit of a hiatus for an unspecified amount of time to build up a chapter base since the next segment of the story gets it thrown into high-gear. So wait around a bit, be patient and with any luck, there'll be a new chapter by the end of October._

_Also, a big thanks to Hermitgenius, you are with out a doubt my biggest fan and I must say thank you for all the flattering reviews. Thank you very much and enjoy._

_All of you_

Chapter 21: Fear

Terra sat cross-legged in his favourite armchair in his private chambers aboard his personal Gummi Ship, the Ark. Currently the entire room was shrouded in darkness; very little artificial or natural light being able to enter the room. Terra did more than sit in the darkness though; he was engaged in conversation with a figure across the room, a figure cloaked by the lack of light. The figure was clearly female, much shorter than Terra and her figure showing a glint off her body, showing that some persistent ray of light was flitting into the chamber and also showed that the figure was wearing armour. Her silhouette vaguely outlined a finned helmet like the one Terra wore. She sat casually on the backboard of the bed and speaking with Terra.

"So you haven't found him yet?" She said in a woeful voice. Terra closed his eyes and shook his head. The woman sighed and let her head hung down. "Are you even trying to look for him?"

Terra's face flashed with a crossed look. "Of course I am! He's my best friend and he's been missing for five years! You think of accusing me of not caring about my best-"

"Best friend? He's my _husband_, damn it!" The woman snapped at Terra. Silence fell over the room and both of them sighed, Terra pinching the bridge of his nose in the process.

"Listen bro," the female knight began, clearly not knowing where to start. "I'm sorry about that one."

"It's okay, sis." Terra replied in a soft voice. "We're both kind of antsy about this. I just don't want to lose someone again…it was my fault… both of them…"

"Don't say that!" Terra's sister shot up and stood straight up, not as imposing as it should be considering her slender five-foot six frame. "You can't keep blaming yourself for all that stuff. I know it hurts but…we have one last duty to do before we leave the Realms for good. We gotta buck up and just finish it."

Terra smiled lightly at some unknown thing and nodded. "Yeah. So, how are your duties going?"

His sister rubbed the back of her helmet. "Uh…you first."

Terra looked crossed at his sister. "Aqua, Aqua, Aqua…" He tsked, shaking his head.

"Don't give me the riot act! Go on, tell me."

"Sure thing sis," the Keyblade Knight relented with a smile at his sister. "So far we know that Maleficent is in contact with…them," he said the last words as if not knowing how to phrase it. "So that means things are going along well on her front, she'll be dead within the month."

"By whose hands?" Aqua asked, leaning forward, balancing on the balls of her feet.

"Riku's." Terra said. "And by his alone. The others will be battling Hollow Heartless, Pete and Cassius at that time. Currently the Elrics and Riku have left Agrabah around six hours ago and Sora's group will be approaching Halloween Town within the hour. Claudio and Rain – or should I say Deuce and Marina – are currently on the outs with each other.

"Following this, both groups will suffer harm to their ships and will be forced to dock at Twilight Town. There they will be attacked by more than half of the Immortals and then the remaining portion will show up to reveal the secret of our two ex-guardians. From their it will be the Dark Show and Radiant Garden for Sora and his group while Neverland, the Coliseum and Ivalice shall be Riku's destination."

Aqua held her hand to her helmeted chin and mulled the words over in her mind before saying, "Will you be telling the King about the truth?"

"Yes." Terra nodded quickly. "After we finish up at Infinity Paradiso I will fill them in on it all."

"And after all of this…on the Radiant Garden…that is when…" Aqua trailed off, not liking what would happen… no, what _will_ happen next. It was too cruel a fate for many people. Terra nodded sadly to finish her sentence so she wouldn't.

"And when will they defeat the Immortal's?" Aqua asked, a hint of fear in her voice, which echoed due to her metallic helmet.

"Anywhere between a few days to a week after Riku eliminates Maleficent." Terra answered matter-of-factly. "Which will give the five of them less then six months before everything begins."

Aqua clasped her hands together hard. "That's not enough time…there all too young for this thing to happen."

"We were there age when it began…the four of us." Terra raised his head and a look of remembrance flashed in his eyes before his face turned to stone again. "Now, what about your work. Have you gotten us any allies?"

Aqua shook her head and her brother sighed in defeat. "Sorry bro, I've tried. I really have. Konoha is currently in a war of their own, as is the Hellsing Organization. Both the Kingdoms of Gondor and Hyrule wouldn't listen to me because I am a woman. Dalmasca is out because of the Archadian occupation and we can't go to Archades because of that pompous jerk, Vayne Solidor.

"Balamb Garden is in ruins, Spira is destroyed, Midgar is dieing, and every other world I went to doesn't have a large enough organized force to be of much help. All we have are the small amount of allies that Sora has made."

Terra gnashed his teeth together at the sound of the news. He punched into his left palm and cursed under his breath once or twice for good measure. "Damn it all." He leaned his head backwards before facing his sister again. "What about Soul Society?"

Aqua slowly shook her head sadly and Terra cursed again. "Blasted all! They could have made all the difference!"

"How?" Aqua scratched her helmet with a metal finger. "It's just 3000 soldiers, last time I checked that bastard Anarados had 8000 and rising."

"You're missing the point sis, the Captains of Soul Society are some of the most powerful beings in the universe. If we had those thirteen on our side we-"

"Ten." Aqua corrected.

"What?" Aqua was holding up all ten fingers for her brother, which drew another crossed look. "No, there are thirteen Captains. It is called the Gotei 13 for a reason."

"Only ten now." Aqua admitted with a forlorn voice. "A few months ago, three Shinigami Captains conspired against the Soul Society, killed their entire system of government and deserted. It was Third Squad Captain Gin Ichimaru, Fifth Squad Captain Sosuke Aize, the ringleader, and Ninth Squad Captain Kaname Tosen." Terra swore again, this time slamming his fist onto the arm of his chair.

"That's not the worst part." Aqua continued, oblivious of her brother's anger. "The three of them stole and artefact that blurs the line between Shinigami and Hollows. Aizen has taken up residence in Hueco Mundo and is creating an army of what he calls Arrancar, Hollows that have gained the form and power of a Shinigami."

"Arrancar." Terra tried the word out on his tongue, feeling extremely foreign to the Knight (A/N 1). "How strong are they?"

"Well the lower tiered Arrancar, the Numeros, Privaron Espada and the Exequias, are all pretty powerful. They may be basic foot soldiers but they can match strength with anywhere between a tenth ranked Shinigami to a Lieutenant, depending on the Arrancar." A look of concern overtook Terra's usual calm face; Aqua had that effect on him. "But that's not the worst of it, the top ten of Aizen's forces, the Espada, are real strong. A skilled Lieutenant can defeat the lower two but the other eight's strength varies depending on rank. Their strength is anywhere between at a Captain's level to even stronger than a Captain's level."

Terra slammed his face into his palm and sighed loudly. "Not good." He moaned, just then realizing that in addition to this force of warriors, they also had three renegade Captains to deal with it. "Anarados will be jumping the gun to get them on his side."

Aqua nodded in despair. "I know, he's been obsessed with the power of the Shinigami for years. This is the perfect chance for him." She then looked at Terra in the eye, visor to face. "I take it that by asking all those questions you haven't been reading all of Destin's and Fate's predictions, have you?"

"For starters, they are not predictions, they are solid fact." The Knight said firmly. "And yes, I haven't read them all." He admitted sadly.

Terra leaned back against his chair and stretched his legs out, wincing as the blood rushed back into them. He couldn't help but think that they had been backed into a corner before everything even started. No allies, no organized fighting force and only a hand full of Keybladers and commanders while their enemies would have numbers nearing the millions.

_I've been down this road before,_ A voice inside his head echoed once more, _Just trust in yourself, your heart, your blade and Fate and Destin._ No matter how many times he heard those words, it never got any easier to trust them and follow them.

"Is that all you have to say, sis?" Terra asked his sister, trying to push as much anxiety from his head as he could. "Or are we done here?"

"Um…" Aqua put an iron clad, yet still dainty, finger to her helmeted chin and contemplated the question. "I suppose…I was trying to end off with some good news but…"

"Your mission and its results have been utterly dismal?"

"Hey!" Aqua gave him an invisible pout from behind her iron mask. Terra had to chuckle, it had been a long time since they had banter like this. Aqua crossed her arms and stared at her brother. "I'm out then. Don't let the Immortal's get you, twisted twin."

"Manage to get some allies for us, sis." Terra retorted with a half grin.

Aqua waved goodbye to her brother before vanishing into thin air without any sign that she'd ever been in the room.

Terra rested his chin on his chest and closed his eyes for a brief moment longer than a standard blink before rising from his armchair and turning to the door with a dramatic flourish of his arm cape. The Ark would be docking at Infinity Paradiso soon and he would have to be ready to face up to eleven Immortals.

He was just happy he didn't have to fight all twelve.

**KHKHKH**

"So, I suppose you guys will be wanting an explanation to the change of attire?" Sora asked the group as they marched through the dreary landscape.

"Not really," Claudio replied glumly. He had been in a bad mood for about a day now but everyone knew better than to try and snap him out of his funk. "This is Halloween Town, if the pumpkin didn't tip you off then I'd have to hit you. And I didn't know that you could use the word 'attire' in its proper meaning."

The 'change of attire' that Sora had mentioned was all fitting to the gothic, dark motif of Halloween Town. Sora had his traditional vampire outfit with the demonic pumpkin mask covering the left side of his face. He wasn't expecting much of a change considering he had been here no more than six months ago.

Kairi had been turned into a witch. Not the old, ugly Mac Beth styled witch but more of the modern variety commonly seen in media art today. She had a black dress that began at her collarbone and ended at her knees. She had high-heel ankle boots on, making her wobble as she walked, and purple and black socks and arm socks. Dark circles were drawn around her eyes and her red hair was colour darker and more sinister, giving it a blood soaked look. A tall, black witches hat was placed on her head with the brim pulled down so it covered her right eye. Finishing off the outfit was a silver belt with a large pumpkin belt buckle and a series of necklaces and bracelets with various good luck charms on them.

Rain, while exuding the same aura of fear and grim that all Halloween Town citizens radiated, also gave off her own aura of elegance, being turned into a half-human, half-feline creature. She had snow-white cat ears sticking out of her mob of auburn hair. Her face was much more animalistic and predatory with her emerald eyes now flaring with life and distinct slit pupils standing out within them. Her normal high collared, sleeveless shirt was relatively unchanged but her pants had turned into a long, flowing skirt. She stood now barefoot, her feet slender and elegant with pointed toenails and a snow-white tail shooting out from her backside. She also had black fingerless gloves on both her hands and her fingers were now also longer and ending with claws. Somehow, her body seemed taller and more curvaceous than normal.

Claudio had taken on the opposite look of the girls, taking on absolute menace and anger in his transformation as opposed to a dark sort of beauty. He no longer had his jacket, shirt, pants, gloves or boots on. In fact, the only article of clothing he wore was a pair of ragged black pants, which were held up by his studded belt with the demonic buckle. Both his hair and skin was much paler than normal and his bare chest had a bloody pentacle on the skin. His arms became increasingly gaunt as the arms went down, ending with his forearm bones poking through his skin and his hand left as nothing more than a skeleton. Both his hands and the lower part of his forearms were charcoaled black and his hands ended in wickedly long fingers and equally long and wicked talons. Like Kairi and Sora, he had dark circles under his eyes. The most distinguishing feature on his body were two black angelic wings sticking out from his shoulder blades, the lower feathers covered with dry blood. He had become a fallen angel.

_Well, this is way too accurate and unsettling as to who I am._ Claudio had thought when he first saw his Halloween form.

"It figures." Kairi said with a sarcastic smirk on her face. "That as soon as I get new clothes, I go to a world with a form change." Not that she was complaining over her little Halloween Town number…until she took a step forward, lost her balance on her narrow heels and fell over next to a tombstone.

Both Claudio and Sora shook their heads at the unseemly sight before the fallen angel that was Claudio helped her to her feet, mindful of his talons.

"Didn't think she could stand up on her own?" Rain scoffed at Claudio, and not in her normal playful tone but in with a venomous bite in her voice. Sora and Kairi looked at this event with confused and concerning eyes.

"What is up with you two?" Sora asked, earning him dark glares from the husband and wife. "Um…okay? Forget I said anything."

"I'll try and forget I ever met you." Claudio murmured banefully before pushing his way past everyone and marching forward ahead of the group.

"Rain?" Kairi turned to the other woman in the group, who was striding gracefully but slowly ahead like her husband. "Rain? Hey!" The female warrior ignored Kairi's calls. "What's up with those two today?" Once again she was ignored, leaving Kairi to pout at the cold and rude warriors.

"You know what? That really is a good question." Sora said as he walked next to his girlfriend. "Normally Rain would keep to herself until something that only she notices comes up and then she explains what needs to be explained. And Claudio, well…much as you probably don't want to hear this Kairi, he cracks off-coloured jokes, insults anyone we meet and fights like a man possessed.

"But now…they're cold and totally distant beyond all belief. You think something happened to them back on Disney Castle?"

"What could have?" Kairi questioned back as the two began to walk slowly to where Claudio and Rain had walked. "We were with them the entire time and all we did was fight Starxys."

Sora put a hand on his chin and thought. "Well…according to Roxas, Claudio used a lot of energy in the fights against Starxys."

She shook her head at the possible answer. "But that doesn't make much sense." She said. "That was over a day ago, I doubt he'd still be exhausted from that. And besides, if he was out of energy, he wouldn't be in a bad mood, he'd be falling asleep while standing." Kairi then pinched the bridge of her nose. "But if it isn't that, then what the hell is it?"

The two once again thought about what the possible answer was but again they just came up with nothing. Sora had dissected their personalities pretty well and it was clear as day that both of them weren't acting like themselves today. The distant yet caring Rain and the sardonic yet protective Claudio had been replaced with cold people who snapped at every little thing and replied to everything with a mumbled threat or insult. What's more, they seemed to be like this to each other to, snapping at one another or just staying as far away from the other and refusing to talk. It was definitely odd.

After five minutes of failed brainstorming Sora decided to voice his mind. "Listen Kai, and this is just between you and me but I do think that something is up with them. Like they're hiding something. It's all real suspicious."

Kairi had to giggle at this. "You're starting to sound like Riku now."

"No, I'm trying to be serious." Sora told her. "I don't know what it is, call it a gut feeling, but something is wrong with them. They are definitely hiding something. What? I have no clue but there is something up besides just the ceiling."

"Sora, I'm telling you this as your girlfriend, no one ever listens to you gut." Kairi joked but did not even manage to get a smile on Sora's face so she decided to be serious as well. "But I do think you are right when you say something is wrong."

Sora blinked, as if not expecting it. "Why do you say that?"

"Claudio hasn't called me 'Princess' once today."

With that she sprinted off to find her ex-bodyguards but Sora was still in thought, being the only things he could turn to now. He couldn't explain the feeling he had, it was different than the others he has had in the past but he had a feeling about both of them. Something, he knew, to do with themselves, Kairi, himself, the Keyblades and the Immortals. In fact, now that he thought about it, the entire mission that Terra had sent them on and the entire course set for them seemed suspicious. But he had no time to explore deeper into this idea as he reached Halloween Town Square.

As per the normal custom, the square was abuzz with preparations for the next Halloween festival extravaganza. Ghost flew about the square and various creatures rolled around on unicycles, juggling burning daggers. A choir of witches had gathered to sing the traditional song of Halloween town and many…things – for lack of a better term – were performing a heavily choreographed dance routine. At the center of this frenzy of holiday festivity was the main skeleton himself, Jack Skellington, who was humming along with the choir and conducting the Halloween song mixed with a rendition of some of Beethoven's most famous works, which, of course, sounded amazingly creepy due to the fact it was being mostly played on an old and antiquated pipe organ.

When the festivities died down, everyone began to hoot and cheer and holler and the amazing spectacle. Both Kairi and Sora cheered as loud as they could while Claudio managed a respectable golf clap. Rain, on the other hand, just stood around with a forlorn and remised look in her eyes.

Jack jumped off the conductor's platform and was greeted with much encouragement from the townsfolk. The living skeleton thanked them all and they returned to their lives as the two-faced Mayor of the Town came skittering up to Jack.

"Oh, Jack!" The Mayor wailed despite the fact that his pleased face was showing. "I must say that if that performance goes as well during Halloween Night as it did today…well I'd be simply ebullient! It was atrocious, despicable and overall very grim! Very grim, indeed! If I didn't have you I don't know what I'd do."

"Thank you very much Mr. Mayor." Jack replied cordially to the waves of praise from the paranoid Mayor before one of his eyes…err, sockets spied a person in the crowd. "Now, if you do excuse me, I do believe I see someone that I need to meet with."

The skeleton loped to the edge of the square towards the Keybladers and met them with open arms. "Do my sockets deceive me? Sora, it is good to see you again!" The two old allies promptly slapped hands together and nodded.

"You too Jack!" Sora said with a smile, showing of his vampiric fangs. "So, how have things been around here? I hope you haven't been trying to take over any other holidays."

"Well there was that incident with the Easter Bunny a few months back…oh and last week I had a go with this Chanukah Zombie fellow-" Jack stopped the joke when he saw the look on Sora's face. "I'm kidding! Don't worry, I learned my lesson, in all seriousness things have been peaceful. But tell me, I don't see Donald and Goofy around but I do spy a brand new witch, a fallen angel and a cat girl. Would you mind going through with the introductions?"

"Oh sure thing," he turned to Kairi first. "This is my girlfriend, Kairi."

Jack bowed deeply before clutching one of Kairi's hands. "Enchanted, madam." He kissed it with a lipless mouth and the young Princess blushed at the chivalry.

Sora cleared his throat loudly. "And these two are Claudio and Rain."

"Hello there!" Jack replied cheerfully to the fallen angel and cat girl but both could care less about meeting Jack Skellington. This didn't pass Jack's notice as he leaned in and whispered to Sora. "Are they always like this?"

"Not really," whispered Sora into the earless skull of Jack. "They're apparently going through some problems right now."

"I can hear you, you little punk!" Claudio said angrily at Sora who instantly backed away from the warrior who seemed even more peeved now that he was speaking. Kairi though, had his back.

"Claudio!" Kairi shouted down the older and taller man. "What is up with you two today?" Both ignored the question. "As your Princess I command you to answer me!"

"I'd rather not." Claudio murmured.

"And why not?" Rain asked coldly. "You are the one who always fawns over her royal ass. Shouldn't you at least answer this one question for her? You haven't answered any of hers yet."

Claudio turned to Rain with a look that Kairi noticed wasn't anger but something totally different. "Well as she so often points out, I shouldn't be calling her a Princess, so why should she get any of the perks?" He shot back at his wife. "Besides, I'd rather not answer and accidentally 'lose control' as you sometimes like to put it."

"If you two can't play nicely, I'm going to have to send you two to time out." Sora half-joked, half-scolded. This earned him very angry looks from two very angry people.

"At least we can agree on one thing." Rain said flatly. "He's still annoying as ever." She walked away from the group and Claudio did so as well, walking the in opposite direction Rain walked.

"I feel like I'm missing something." Jack pointed out as the spat between spouses.

"We all have that feeling, Jack." Sora said in a flat tone.

"Do you guys think there is anything we could do to cheer them up?" Jack asked with a normal leap and a dramatic flourish. "They must be something that we could do for them, but what?" Jack took off his head, causing Kairi to cringe, and stuck a long bony finger into the hole leading to his skull and scratched the inside of it, earning another cringe from Kairi. "I just hate to see a married couple fight like that."

Kairi took a double take. "Wait? How do you know they're married?"

"Oh after a few years in the business you can tell the type on sight." Jack explained nonchalantly.

Sora sighed. "I know I'm going to regret asking this but, Jack, what business?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you? I'm both a registered minister and a marriage counsellor."

The two Keybladers looked dumbfounded at the skeleton trickster and Sora sighed again, hanging his head in dismay. "Anyway…Jack, have you seen any people wearing white with splintered hearts on their clothes?"

The skeleton placed a skinless finger on his skull and hummed for a moment. "Can't say that I have." Jack replied. "Like I said, it has been peaceful for the last little while." The skeleton then paused. "Yep, nothing out of the ordinary." He paused again, looking around as if expecting something. "No, nothing wrong at all."

_He's really pushing his luck here._ Sora thought in despair. _By now he should learn that I am a disaster magnet._

Kairi though, was being more optimistic about the situation. "Well I guess there is only one thing we can do if there are no problems to solve around here." The young Keyblader announced casually. Both Jack and Sora gave her clueless looks and she had to roll her eyes. "We need to help those two get back on track."

Sora took a haphazard glance at the aforementioned couple, both of which were sitting on the opposite sides of the square, as far away as possible from each other, and ignoring nearly everything else in the world. Sora half expected them to be angry or have an enraged look on their face but instead it was one of melancholy and sadness. Just by looking at the two warriors, Sora, Kairi and Jack could tell that whatever sort of fight they were having was pointless as both of them hated themselves for being mad at the person they loved.

Kairi and Sora looked at each other and realized that the other had figured this out. Nodding, they marched up to the two older warriors to tell them what was going on and to make peace with one another.

Sadly, that just wouldn't happen.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A surprisingly girly voice said from nowhere. By now the entire group was used to voices coming from the unknown and so they craned their heads skywards to see the speaker appear before their very eyes. It was clearly a woman, and Immortal more like it. This one had curly brown hair tumbling off her head to end in a short, cropped hairdo. Bright violet eyes shone with cruelty and had a playful look in them, an equally cruel and playful smile plastered on her face. The Immortal was petite but carried herself in a proud manner, wearing a shoulder-less breastplate branded with the splintered heart of the Immortals. She also wore a mini skirt made of sown iron plates with high-heeled boots extending up to her knees.

She clapped black-gloved hands together and giggled wickedly at the sight below her before reaching behind her back and taking out a sheathed katana, which she promptly shouldered and grinned even more. "So, what is it that we have here?" She mused from above the air with nothing but malice in her voice. "A vampire, a witch, a cat girl and an angel of death. My, my, my, it looks like you losers got the short end of the Halloween Town costume stick." She unsheathed her katana about an inch, letting the moon glimmer off the small amount of silver sticking out of the black wooded scabbard.

"Since I know who you lot are I suppose introductions are in order." The Immortal floated down to the town square, holding her now fully sheathed katana at her side. "I am the Twelfth-Ranked Immortal. Rosa is my name, and what a fitting name for a beauty like myself." She snickered to herself at the vainglorious comment. "And don't think that because I am the lowest ranked Immortal will mean an easy fight. You learned that the hard way when you battled Starxys, didn't you?" She snickered evilly again.

"Listen bitch," Claudio spat with an even greater anger to his opponent than usual. "I am in a bad mood so if you want to fight then be prepared to be the focus of my anger."

Rosa looked taken aback by the bluntness of Claudio's comment. "How dare you call a lady that!" She gasped with a false tone of innocence. "What ever happened to the gentlemanly side of combat?"

Claudio let all his anger show on his face at once. "I said stow it, bitch!"

Charging her at once, Claudio instantly shrugged High Streak off its chain and his back and swung with immense force. Rosa giggled at the attack and simply leapt away, letting the vibro-blade smash into the streets and send rubble flying. By the time Rosa landed, Claudio was on her again but once more she dodged agilely and let the pavement take the punishment of Claudio's blade. This continued for some time, Rosa simply playing with Claudio and using her speed and his anger to give her a huge edge, and this didn't go unnoticed by the others.

"If he keeps that up, he'll destroy the entire square." Sora pointed out bluntly. "Normally Claudio is a much smarter fighter than this and won't rush into combat in a hurry without a plan."

"Anger is blinding him, Sora." Jack said in turn, as Claudio decapitated the top portion of a fence and Rosa laughed some more, earning her another growl from Claudio. "And Rosa knows this and is manipulating it."

"I think we should step up to the plate guys." Kairi suggested. "Beat speed with speed."

She tried to move forward but Sora held her back. "Hold up, Kai. Think about it for a second. Claudio is a prideful warrior and chances are that this frustration is making him even more prideful. If we interfere now, who knows how he'll react."

"I suppose…" She held a hand to her chin in thought. "What do you think, Rain?" The other member of the party said nothing but the worried look in her eyes spoke volumes.

Meanwhile, Claudio continued to try and fail to strike down Rosa only for the female Immortal to dodge every blow he could muster and his frustration began to grow until he began to rush headlong into any situation despite how stupid it was. Rosa, in the meantime, had jumped onto a fence and was yawning.

"Boring!" She taunted the rampaging warrior. He charged the fence and instead of splitting Rosa in half, he cut the fence down the middle. She cart-wheeled away and laughed some more for her own enjoyment. "Is this all you have? Man, Creed was right when he said you were boring."

"Shut up you bitch!" Claudio fumed as he ran to Rosa again. "And stand still!" He roared when she dodged another swing.

"Your choice." Rosa shrugged before finally unsheathing her katana. She traced a circle in the air with the blade before chanting some sort of incantation and creating an array of energy blades in the air before her. She sheathed her blade and snatched an energy sword "Blade Flicker Technique!"

Vanishing in a blur, the woman appeared before Claudio, skewering him with the energy sword. She vanished again, and reappeared to the left of Claudio and impaled him with another sword through the armpit. She repeated this ten times, impaling Claudio with all twelve of her energy katanas in twelve different spots. A shocked and pained look overtook the warrior's face before blood gushed out of his mouth. The blades flickered out of existence and the fallen angel collapsed to the ground, blood leaking from his twelve entrance wounds and twelve exit wounds.

"Claudio!" Rain cried shrilly before running to her husband's collapsed body.

"Now is the time to move in." Jack ordered and the three remaining fighters charged in to take up the banner of battle.

"Oh, more toys for me to play with." Commented Rosa malevolently. Sora summoned Oblivion and charged into battle, preparing to launch a Fire spell the moment Rosa dodged.

Unfortunately this didn't happen. Rosa stood her ground and blocked the Keyblade feint with her sword in a lazy swish. Sora tried to strike her again and again but Rosa blocked each blade with a half-assed block, smiling and laughing coyly as Sora made a vain attempt to bypass her guard. Sora knocked Rosa back and launched his pre-prepared Fire spell, the fireball racing to Rosa.

"Oh, please." Rosa ran to the blazing ball and then tumbled over it gracefully before resuming her duel with Sora, blades clashing together in sparks. "Gonna take more than that to defeat me!"

Another set of sparks began to rain towards Rosa as Kairi joined in on the sword battle, which caused Rosa to laugh evilly again. With strength that seemed unseemly for a woman of that stature, she shoved both Kairi and Sora away from her before darting backwards herself.

"This is just getting sad and fast!" Rosa barked at the warriors. "Can't you do anything remotely challenging?"

To answer, Jack fired a bolt of lightning down of Rosa's location, forcing her to flee again. Jack continued his barrage of elemental bombardment and soon Sora and Kairi joined in with the magic strike but Rosa dodged each one with grace and soon Sora charged into strike her again but she blocked the attacks and dodged the magic, even managing to do both at the same time, blocking Sora's attack and then, in a split second, moving to avoid a double set of fireballs.

"And the sad just keep getting sadder," the Immortal mocked, fanning herself with her hand. "This move is probably overkill but it's to be safe. After all, you guys are annoying!" She began to sprint forward, dragging and sparking her blade across the ground before it began to leave an energy trail behind it. She made a mad dash to Sora, Jack and Kairi, leaving a large trail of energy behind her before passing the group completely.

"Land Reaver!"

The trail of energy pulsed madly before exploding into a fissure of energy. The two Keybladers and the mage leapt away to avoid being blown apart in the ensuing blast.

"You dodged it, not bad. But see if you can dodge it _again_!" Rosa had been running around and created three energy trails with her blade, creating an encompassing triangle around the heroes. "Land Re-"

"7 Rose Draw, No. 4: Buster!"

The disembodied fist crashed into the pavement where Rosa was standing. The energy lines disappeared as the Immortal lost her concentration as her attention was focused on Rain… but not for long.

"Prism Chain Arts, Striking Style: Hammer Blow!"

Claudio came out of nowhere to smash his blade down on Rosa. She dodged again, barely stepping back before the vibro-blade known as High Streak hit the stone ground, sending the earth into an explosion as the massive force of the Chain Art created shockwave took affect.

Rosa stepped back in disbelief as she saw her strategy broken to pieces. No longer could she simply run around and dodge all attacks…not from all five of them. Claudio hefted High Streak onto his shoulder and looked at Rosa with a blank face.

The Immortal quickly regained her composure. "You want to take me for another spin, big boy?" Claudio kept his blank face on before tilting his head in the direction behind Rosa. Before she could even fully turn around, Sora unleashed his strike.

"Sabre Cross!" Swinging Oblivion, a small crescent of a blade beam shot out from the Keyblade, moving twice as fast as Claudio's Sword Pressure. Rosa's eyes went wide as she tried to spin away but ended up getting clipped on the cheek by the energy strike. She hit the ground rolling and cursing loudly, clutching the side of her face where the blade had struck.

Standing and trembling, Rosa saw the blood on her hand and the blood running down the left side of her face before screaming. "You bastard!" She bellowed angrily. "How dare you do this to me! How dare you? Look at me! You did this you son of a bitch Keyblader!"

"You know, call me old fashioned, but I think that warrior's shouldn't care about their aesthetic appearance." Kairi mocked the Immortal after so many tongue-lashings from her.

"Shut up!" Rosa screamed shrilly. "I didn't want to have to pull out the big guns against you punks but now I'll let you kill yourselves." With a free hand, she parted her hair away to reveal a grand golden rune on her forehead. It almost looked like and eye.

"This can't be good." Sora gaped at the energy now rushing off Rosa.

"Everyone get down! Cover your eyes!" Jack cautioned the group.

"Too late!" Rosa spat at the Knight of Nightmares. "Welcome to my nightmare…and your own! Eye of Fear!"

The 'eye' on her forehead pulsed and suddenly the entire world seemed to flash and move slower. Every turned into a muted colour of black and sickly grey before Sora, Kairi, Rain and Claudio fell to the ground and clutched their heads, screaming in pain and agony at whatever Rosa had done.

With the eye fading away, Rosa giggled fiendishly at her own handiwork. "I always do enjoy the reactions when I use this. Oh, well," she shrugged offhandedly. "I still have work to do." The Immortal began to walk away but was stopped by Jack hollering at her.

"What did you do to them?"

"I haven't done anything." Rosa said without a hint of innocence about her. "What is happening is simply due to their own fears. It's their fault, truth be told. Now, ta-ta." Rosa then darted out of town square, leaving Jack alone with the four screaming warriors.

**KHKHKH**

_Sora was standing in the middle of a parched patch of land, Kairi standing before him, an unkind look on her face. For some reason or another, pink rose petals were floating down from the sky, scattered about the plain in random patterns. The sun reflected off them, giving the vision a sickly pink hue._

_"Why are you doing this Kairi?" Sora choked out in distress, his voice heavy with emotion and tears welling in his eyes. She turned her head, her face dead with emotion._

"_It's like you said, how could we ever be together?" She responded in a dead voice. "I'm doing us both a favour by doing this. Besides," her eyes transformed into a wicked glare. "How could I ever love you?"_

_And with that, Kairi vanished with the wind, turned into a cloud of the sickly pink flowers raining all around the broken Keyblade Master. He felt his heart shatter as he fell to his knees, clutching his chest in pain. He didn't know what was happening or why, all he could do was cry as the girl he loved drifted away, gone from him forever._

_But he could not wallow in sadness for long, a hand stretched out and clutched at his throat, driving the wind from him and elevating him off the ground. Sora followed the hand up to the body it belonged too, only to see it was the cloud of petals, taking the form of a man with two vibrant green seeds for eyes. Sora tried to fight against the swarm of roses but it was like fighting a solid figure. The swarm-man glared at the Keyblader with the wicked seed eyes before it finally rasped something out._

"_You've had this coming for a long time, Keyblade Master. This, is my revenge!"_

**KHKHKH**

_Kairi stood inside a torrent of darkness. Dark walls, dark floors, dark ceiling, dark light, even the chains that held her in place were spawned from the darkness around her. The fiend that was once her brother stood before her, one hand gripping his bastard sword, he other clutching her chin, holding it up and staring at her with cold, dead eyes._

"_My, my…such beauty." He whispered malevolently. "Our dear parents would be very proud of you if they still lived…"_

"_They aren't your parents!" Kairi raged from her chains, trying feebly to move forward and fight. Kira smacked her across the face with a gauntleted hand for that._

"_I am your brother!" Kira raged at her, punching her in the gut for good measure._

_Kairi wheezed from her shackles. "You were my brother!" She managed. "But the darkness made you something else!"_

"_And the same darkness will make you something else…" Kira rasped at her. "It will twist your soul and heart into something like mine. You will relish in it, enjoy it, bask in its power, and then…kill your friends."_

"_No…I won't…" She said feebly, as if all will was being sapped from her body._

"_You will…you will kill your friends!"_

"_No…" She said feebly again, before the scenery changed. No longer was she suspended in darkness, but was instead standing in a grassy field. Rose petals rained from the sky and a man stood before her. His figure was blurry, but none the less Kairi walked to him, with no control over her body. The man wrapped his arms around her, almost in a loving embrace, before he whispered._

"_Now my darling, it is time to break the Keyblader's heart."_

_"Yes…break his…heart…"_

**KHKHKH**

_Rain knelt on a dusty patch of land, the boarders of the land covered in light. Standing in the light was everyone she knew, Kairi and Sora, Roxas and Namine, Riku and the Elrics. She was crying, sobbing, weeping, clawing at her flesh so blood ran down her arms and face._

"_Please…" She wept pathetically, sobbing uncontrollably as her nails dug into her biceps, the warm blood rushing around her fingertips. "Please…help us…don't leave me alone."_

"_Why should we help you?" Roxas sneered at the snivelling Rain._

"_You're just a monster!" Namine spat angrily._

"_You lied to us and deceived us all!" Sora said._

"_You could have killed us!" Riku said darkly._

"_Just go and die you wretched bitch!" Kairi said with malice so vile, it took all the spirit out of Rain._

_She fell down into a fetal position, whimpering in fear as the people she called her friends, the people who just insulted her viciously, vanished into the light. Before long, the light turned into a raging fire, the heat searing her flesh and biting into her carven wounds. The roaring fire drowned rain's screams of pain out as she dug into her flesh even more and tore at her hair, writhing on the floor in agony. All of this was rendered pointless as she felt her entire being disintegrate into nothingness._

**KHKHKH**

_Claudio was left alone, on a barren street as the rain pounded down in sheets. The chilling rain meant nothing though. In his hands, he cradled the bloody body of his wife, the woman that he'd loved for 35 years, the mother of his only child. It pained him to see this more than anything in the world. He wanted to cry out and scream, but the cries were stuck in his throat, as he lay cold, defeated, and alone._

_But he wasn't alone, before him were the tall, shadowy figures of Kaiser, Tallgeese and Cassius. Each of them bared a weapon and smiled malevolently at the broken warrior._

"_What did you think you would accomplish by running away?" Cassius asked, brandishing both his katanas. Claudio had no answer._

"_No answer, eh?" Kaiser sneered. "Well, how 'bout you answer to this?" He flashed his claws and swiped them across Claudio's chest. He wanted to scream aloud, to curse in anger, to get up and fight. But he couldn't, he was broken. He fell down to his side, slumped over, the corpse of his wife slipping from his hands._

"_You always thought you had all the answers." Tallgeese said, walking menacingly towards Claudio. "You always thought you were better than everyone else. You always thought that everything you did was right! Well, were did those philosophies get you to? They got you here, to death's door!" Holding a shaft of light, Tallgeese stabbed into Claudio's side, searing the flesh on contact._

_Cassius then began to walk towards Claudio. With a free hand, Cassius propped Claudio up, holding him by the hair, before pressing his katana against his throat. "You were once one of us. And now you shall die, one of us!"_

_He then ran the blade against his throat, hot blood pouring out…_

**KHKHKH**

Sora woke up with a start, breathing heavily, his body slick in a cold sweat. He looked around and saw the others in similar states, panic and fear etched on their faces. Claudio especially looked panicked, his face was pale and he had his legs clutched closely to his chest, his eyes darted wildly around the town square where they had passed out. Sora instinctively moved towards Kairi to comfort her, but the returning Jack Skellington, entering the plaza from the road that lead to the Hinterlands, cancelled the calming action.

"I'm glad to see that you four are up once more." He said when he saw the awoken warriors. Sora noted that his voice wasn't cheerful though. "Sad to say, that stranger that attacked us got away from me. She must be in Christmas Town by now."

"Don't worry about that, Jack." Sora said, trying to make the skeleton feel better. "We'll be fine too, so don't worry. Right now, we have to stop Rosa and fast."

With a nervous flick of the tongue and a dart of the eyes, Claudio stood up and began to walk to the Hinterlands without a word, taking unusually long strides on his long legs. Rain, who previously had been muttering to herself, went to follow her husband, matching his long strides with fast, nervous steps. Sora and Kairi shot each other nervous looks before turning to the pathway.

"We should get going, Jack." Sora said to the skeleton before heading off with his girlfriend. Jack looked curiously at the group before following pace as well.

As the group of five walked down the path, the gloomy, Gothic air of Halloween Town didn't help their mood following Rosa's assault on their minds. Claudio and Rain had taken the visions the worst though, before they had been cold and distant but now…the cold distance had amplified, now fuelled by fear instead of anger. They were going into a pattern of nervous tics and shifty looks, rubbing their arms, stealing glances at the others and several other telltale signs of nervousness. Sora, wanting to get to the bottom of this behaviour, broke out into conversation.

"So, what was that attack that Rosa used?" Sora asked, knowing full well it was a rhetorical question with an obvious answer. Normally Claudio would give him a condescending look for saying something so stupid, but today he got nothing. "I'm mean, why didn't Jack get affected by it? Did you cover your eyes or something?"

"No." Jack answered, loping alongside the Keyblader. "I just told you guys to cover your eyes, I never got the chance to cover mine."

"I don't think Jack needed to cover his eyes." Kairi began, trying in earnest not to trip in her ankle boots. "I think that attack needed to make eye-to-eye contact. Its kind of hard to make eye contact with someone who only has sockets and not eyes."

Sora nodded along. "Makes sense." He then went into a look of deep thought. "So…that attack showed us our fears right… or…visions of them. What did you guys see?"

Kairi looked away nervously. "I…really don't want to say…" She trailed off in a small voice.

"Why not?" Jack asked. "It helps to get your fears out in the open. When you say it aloud, you get a grip of the scale of it and it helps you manage it. Resolve it." Kairi and Sora just stared at him. "Its something I picked up when I got my counsellor's licence."

Sora sighed. "I guess." He began to rub the back of his head in a nervous manner. "I saw…I saw Kairi breaking up with me…" He felt real bad saying it aloud, it made it that much worse that he had verbally recognized the vision and so he could no longer ignore it. Kairi gasped but Sora went on. "And then…some crazy guy who was made up of flower petals began to strangle me. Calling it 'revenge'. The worst part is, that last part of the vision really is bugging me. Like its familiar or something." He scratched his head in frustration. "What about you, Kai?"

"Uh…" She had a hard time coming to terms with it, and Sora's admission didn't help either. "Kira was torturing me…telling me to succumb to darkness. Telling me…to kill my friends. And then…I was in a field with…flower petals and a man…he was…hugging me…telling me to…break his heart…" By the time she finished, tears were welled up in her eyes and she was choked up too much to speak anymore. She purposely left out the last part about her repeating the man's sentiment as to spare Sora of any more worries.

Sora stopped himself and went to console Kairi, stroking her hair and whispering comforts into her ear. Jack stopped walking as well, turning away from the lovers to speak to Claudio and Rain. "What about you two? What did you see?"

"I…I can't remember." Claudio stammered out.

"M-me either…" Rain muttered.

Although still got up in their loving moment, both Sora and Kairi caught this exchange and shared curious glances at one another.

"Something's up with them again." Sora whispered to Kairi as they continued to walk. "This time its something new."

Kairi agreed. "Must have something to do with what Rosa showed them." Kairi whispered back. "I guess we have to confront them when we get back to the ship."

"What?" Sora looked confused. "Why then? Why not ask them now?"

"We have to deal with Rosa first. If we're distracted by this again, it could prove costly."

"We're here!" Jack announced from ahead the two whispering Keybladers.

And indeed they were. They had arrived at the end of the path of the Hinterlands, which ended in several trees forming an archway that blocked the rest of the path. On each tree was a door that was designed in an icon corresponding to different holidays. There was a Thanksgiving turkey, an Easter egg and, of course, the signature Christmas tree. They noticed several footprints trodden within the dust of the path, all of which leading to the Christmas Town door, which was slightly ajar.

Sora grabbed the golden handle on the Christmas door and pulled it open, looking into the black void beneath him. "Okay, word of advice to everyone." Sora said, turning to the others in the group. "When you reach the bottom, you're gonna hit snow. So, just get ready for a major shock to the system."

Wordlessly, Claudio stepped in front of the tree and placed a bare foot on the threshold, looking into the portal and seeing the descending snowflakes, hearing the sleigh bells ringing.

"What?" Sora looked at him. "No smart-ass comment on this?" Claudio slowly turned his head to Sora to show him his sad grey-green eyes before he jumped into the void; followed shortly by Rain, Jack, Kairi and finally Sora.

**KHKHKH**

Sora was thrown out of the Halloween tree with the normal great force, making him dive headfirst into a snow bank. He came up, sputtering snow and with numb cheeks, laughing at himself. "Oh…what a rush!" He exclaimed before falling back into the snow bank with another laugh. He then noticed that once again, the worlds had necessitated a change of attire. Sora was wearing his drab, gothic, elf-like clothing. Kairi was wearing a variation of her old dress, except that it was a much darker pink and trimmed in fur. She also had snow boots that went halfway up her calves, woollen stockings and a pink Santa cap. Rain had heavy snow pants on with her own pair of snow boots and a white parka. Claudio had a full trench coat, buttoned up in the front, and designed like the Amestrisian military, in the same colour of his normal coats. His pants and boots were unchanged, his leather gloves had turned into thick winter gloves and his silver-rimmed, red-lens sunglasses (which had been in his coat pocket when they landed) had turned into silver-rimmed, red-lens ski goggles. He also had a sky blue jester-style toque on with black pompoms on the tips and his signature black hell butterfly on the front.

"So…this is snow…" Kairi said, bending over and sifting a handful of the white powder through her fingers. "It's definitely cold."

"We'll have time to frolic in partially frozen water later," Claudio muttered, "Right now, we have an Immortal to deal with." The warrior then pushed himself through the others and began to walk down the snowy path towards the down. The others watched but said nothing.

"He's right." Jack said. "I don't really know if I can live myself if that woman hurts Sandy."

"Sandy?" Kairi scratched her head through the cap.

"The people of Halloween Town mistranslated 'Santa Claus' as 'Sandy Claws'." Sora whispered to her.

"So he actually exists?" Kairi asked. Sora nodded and a childish gleam sparkled in her eyes. "And here I thought that you were lying because you thought we'd believe pretty much anything and so you just decided to throw this in for kicks."

The brunette took on an offended look. "When do I ever lie?" Sora asked.

"Well you used to lie all the time when you were eight." Kairi giggled and Sora blushed, his face feeling hot. "But then you learned how bad of a liar you were."

Claudio held his hand up to signal for silence, the group was in a clearing of snow dusted evergreens. Sora knew better to be quiet when Claudio told him to be quiet; the Keyblade Master had gained a deep respect for the warrior and his innate ability to sense the presence of Heartless, Nobodies, Fell Souls and Immortals before they materialized or came into view. The depressed warrior peered about the wooded area before he stopped and pointed to a bough ten-feet above them and to their left. Rosa was relaxing on the branch, eyes closed with her body cradled snugly on the snow-covered limb.

Claudio quickly drew his pistol and fired a round at the female Immortal. As soon as the bullet left the barrel, Rosa had her eyes opened and she flipped away from the branch as the bullet tore through it. She landed gracefully and grinned at the party.

"Hmm, and here I thought my Eye of Fear would leave you quivering like babies for at least an hour." She shrugged before brandishing her katana again. "Oh well, I guess I just have to deal with this the old fashioned way."

Sora, Kairi and Jack took battle stance against the Immortal but Rain gently put a hand on Sora and looked at him. "You stay back." She cautioned, stepping forward with one hand already grasping Scarlet Queen. "I'll deal with her." Rosa smirked again but it was lost to Rain, who teleported away from her spot, only to reappear behind Rosa in a burst of powder snow.

The two woman locked-up swords and began to exchange cuts, Rosa being flustered by Rain's super speed and teleportation abilities. Sora and Kairi had never had a chance to see Rain in an involved battle before but they had to admit it was a spectacular thing. Rain moved with an inhuman grace, all her movements fluid and precise and with no wasted movement. Sora also noted that her blade was more an extension of her body than just a blade. She never lost control of it even when she ducked and rolled, twisted and turned and danced in an attempt to confuse and frustrate her adversary.

And then, quicker than a Demyx sitar solo, Rain shifted her stance, putting her weight forward towards her arm and chest. She then charged Rosa and collided with her blade with such amazing force that the Immortal almost lost grip of it. Recovering from the slip-up, Rosa had to hold her katana in an awkward way to hold the savage offence of her opponent at bay. The pain and sadness in Rain's eyes had been replaced with something not quite like burning anger or a desire to fight, but more of pitiless sorrow for enemy and a glimmer of sympathy.

With a mighty two-handed blow, Rain knocked the katana from Rosa's grip and sent her flying back, rump first, onto the cold snow. An upset grimace flashed on her face at the sensation but she recovered…only to have a speeding Rain charge into her repeatedly at super speed. Rain darted from all over the snowy battlefield to knock the Immortal to-and-fro with breakneck fast tackles before kicking her into the air. Rain smirked at her now helpless enemy before teleporting above her and smashing her with a huge somersault axe-kick.

The two descended to the ground, Rosa falling in a heap and Rain landing gracefully. Rain bowed to her allies before exhaling and turning to her enemy, who was struggling and coughing to her feet.

"Old hag…" Rosa hissed at her opponent. "You think…you think you've beaten me?"

"I do." Rain said bluntly and without emotion. "I do and, after fighting you, there is now no doubt in my mind that you are the weakest of the Immortals." She looked at Rosa with pity in her eyes. "To be the weakest of a group of such vile creatures…" Looking down at herself, she added quietly. "What a sad fate."

"I don't need your pity, bitch!" Rosa flared at the other female fighter. "You are forgetting that I still have one trick up my sleeve." Rosa's forehead began to glow again. "Time to take another trip into your mind! Eye of Fear!"

This time, Sora and Kairi managed to cover their eyes but Rain was taken totally by surprise. As the golden aura spread from Rosa's head, she felt someone rush her from behind and shove her head into the cold snow. When she got up and wiped the white powder from her eyes, she saw Claudio on the ground, writhing and twitching in mental anguish.

_He saved me._ She realized as she pieced what happened together. _He didn't want to see me suffer so he protected me from the attack by using his body at the shield._ She approached him and brushed her hand across his forehead ever so lightly. _You big romantic idiot…how could I ever have fought with you?_ She kissed him on the forehead and then looked at Rosa. _I was such an idiot…_

"Sora. Kairi." She said slowly, getting up and brushing the snow from her knees. "Once again, stay out of this." Rain reminded them as she reach for Scarlet Queen, having dropped it when Claudio pushed her.

"Still gonna fight you hag?" Rosa chuckled to herself as Rain took her stance once more. "Guess you got to be pretty sore after what I did to your boy toy of a husband, eh?"

Rain pursed her lips together. "Yes. I am. But I am more angry at myself." Rosa lifted an eyebrow at the comment. "I am angry at myself for a lot of things but mostly for letting my guard down and causing my husband to suffer." She then threw her sword into the ground, the blade piercing the snow and soft earth below it so it stood up.

"Now you feel my wrath!" Rain lifted her arms up to her side as she and her sword began to shine with a golden light. "Let this be a lesson to all of you. Hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned!" The nimbus of light fully enveloped Rain, blinding the others in the vicinity of the clearing.

"Red Rose Draw No. 6: Celestial Armour!"

When the nimbus faded, Rain was clad in armour. Golden, translucent armour made of light surrounded her, not attached to her body, but instead hovering off of her. Body armour with engraved with an airy scrollwork of roses and vines. Two gauntlets adorned her arms; both having pointed edges while the left one also had wing-like projections to form a kind of shield. Greaves had materialized on her legs down to her feet, which were now hovering above the snow-covered forest floor. From the back of her body armour, a set of thin wings made of the same golden light as the armour with a long tail descending from below the wings, coiling on the ground.

Rosa smirked again. "So you have some fancy armour. Big deal."

Giving no response, the armoured Rain vanished from sight, only to reappear behind Rosa and strike at her with a punch. Nimble as a cat, the Immortal jumped away but Rain appeared in front of her with even greater speed than ever and threw another punch. Rosa barely blocked that one with the flat of her blade, which she then swung to hurl Rain back. Rain warped away again but this time didn't reappear in an instant. Looking about with a flustered look on her face, Rosa tried to get a bead on her enemy but was taken by surprise again when Rain came diving down from the sky onto Rosa, the two women crashing into the ground with a massive erupting plume of snow following their arrival.

Rain danced away again and watched as Rosa got out of the snow, now banged up from just the one attack. She frothed at Rain but the warrior just showed her foe the same pity-filled eyes she had on since the beginning on the battle. Her arms shot out and two swords slid forth from the pointed ends of the gauntlets. Rain warped off again and reappeared, slashing at Rosa who barely avoided the swords. Rain continued her charged, striking with amazing speed and brutality while the Immortal could barely block the attacks with her katana, the strikes so fast and the angles ever-changing, so her grip was always and awkward and clumsy.

Rosa spun away from the empowered Rain and ran her hand across her blade. Swinging it, several dark energy fireballs shot forth to Rain. Staying calm, she raised her left gauntlet and the fireballs hit a translucent gold barrier. Rain then vanished once more and reappeared to the left of Rosa. She swung her blades, Rosa turning to block, only to vanish again and reappear from the right. Vanishing and appearing in a constant pattern, Rosa eventually lost track of where Rain actually was. Taking advantage of this, Rain appeared to the southwest of her enemy and charged forward, the arm blades glancing across her ribs, biting through the steel and drawing a trail of blood. She then pivoted in midair and caught her with a backhand using her shielded gauntlet, smashing it across her cheek and knocking her away into the snow, kicking up powder again.

Getting up, Rosa huffed in anger at Rain. Blood ran from her cheeks and ribs in thin trickles, colouring the pure snow red. "You…you…" She snarled breathlessly. "You…"

"If you're gonna say something, do more than repeat one word."

Rosa's eyes went wide as saucers as she turned to see Claudio swing his sword down onto her. She barely managed to tumble away as the sword crashed into the snow with thunderous strength.

Husband and wife stood side-by-side, blades aimed at Rosa in unity. Rain looked over at Claudio, a haggard looked on his face from the fear vision. She smiled all the same. "Good to have you back. Claudio."

He smiled back at her "The same to you. Rain."

"Weren't you two just hating one another like twenty minutes ago?" Rosa screamed. "What the hell happened here?"

Rain laughed slightly at the outburst. "You are right. We were fighting. Fighting about something stupid." She admitted before taking looks at Claudio, Sora and Kairi. "We were fighting and I was wrong about it. I wish I could say I was wrong because I was being stubborn or foolish but it was because I was afraid. I was afraid at what the reaction of my friends would be. And this is where I owe you thanks Rosa." She said with a mocking bow and a cruel smile. "Your little illusion allowed me to face me fear, to see the worst reaction. I looked at the image and I faced it with a brave front. I know that my friends would never act like that. I know that they will standby me and help me in my time of need."

"Well…isn't that fine and dandy!" Rosa snapped at Rain before Claudio jumped the gun and charged Rosa. Combining the damage already done to Rosa and Claudio's strength, speed and the fire in his heart, Claudio had the advantage. Swinging High Streak with speed and viciousness at the Immortal. Rosa dodged away from the strikes and waited for her moment, slashing downward and striking with a spin kick. Claudio stepped back from the slash and caught the kick, pinning Rosa's foot between his shoulder and wrist.

Claudio smiled wickedly. "Sweetie, with a skirt that short, do you really think that you should be kicking so high?"

"Pervert!" Rosa raged. She did nothing though, as Rain appeared behind her and lunged at Rosa. The Immortal got away but Claudio was soon on her and then Rain and Claudio began to double-team her. Soon Sora, Kairi and Jack joined in and Rosa began to be overwhelmed by the repeated strikes. She eventually pushed away from a shoving contest with Sora and jumped into the air before staying there.

Rain looked at her with a curious gaze. "You realize I can fly right?"

"Don't condescend me, bitch!" Rosa snarled again. "There is no way I can take on all five of you at once so I decided to cut my loses and take on only one of you." She then added mentally. _Plus, I have the mobility advantage._

Rain jumped up to the sky to meet Rosa but didn't make a move as she looked down to Claudio. "Wanna join in, hon?" She asked.

"Yep. Time for me to acquire a set of wings." Claudio began to rev High Streak, which covered itself in a current of golden lightning. "Prism Chain Arts, Aerial Style: On Hellbound Wings We Fly!"

Energy roared around Claudio in a great current before they burst out and formed into a pair of wings made of pure energy. He leapt off the ground and joined his wife in the sky as the two began to clash and duel in the sky, continuing their battle from the ground.

Sora and Kairi could only stand in the snow together to see the husband and wife battle Rosa in the air. "Its good to have them back, isn't it?" Sora commented, 'them' referring to, of course, Claudio and Rain.

"Definitely." She agreed as Claudio came dive-bombing onto Rosa, locking swords with her. Rain swooped from underneath and delivered an aerial chop-block, sending Rosa tumbling away and leaving Claudio free to land a missile dropkick into her stomach. Rosa crashed into a canopy of evergreens and Rain was waiting for her. As the Immortal past by the trunks of the trees, Rain smashed her in the back with a knee before snatching her by the ankle and tossing Rosa into the air again…and into a double-fisted blow by Claudio.

She went down like a sack of bricks, diving into the snow and kicking up another shower of white powder. Claudio revved up High Streak and ran his hand across the blade's surface "Prism Chain Arts, Thundaga Style: Thunder Blade!" He raised the blade above his head as lighting wrapped around the blade, flickering with an eerie blue light. Claudio twirled it around before slamming it down into the snow bank Rosa was trapped in. He never let go of the blade, following it as it zoomed like a bullet. The electrical charged blade hit the snow and then unleashed a wave of plasmatic energy, forcing Rosa to surface from her snowy tomb.

Rosa seethed, bloody and beaten from the twin assault of Claudio and Rain; her nose was busted, blood trailing down from it, her left arm limp, most likely broken and the rest of her body covered with scratches and bruises. She coughed loudly before eyeing Claudio and Rain with eyes of burning anger. "How dare you…how dare you…" She cupped her hands over her face and screamed. "Look what you did to me!" She raged.

"Seems to me that a warrior shouldn't be concerned about her aesthetic appearance." Rain commented smugly, totally cool compared to Rosa, who was so angry she could melt the snow around her.

"SHUT UP!" Rosa howled at her nemesis. "Just shut it you old hag!" Rosa raised her one good arm and snapped her fingers. "My name means rose…and I think I'll let you meet a little pet that holds my name sake…" The Immortal purred menacingly at the group.

A massive dark portal appeared on the ground between Rosa and the others and a Heartless came rising from the inky depths of the hole. This Heartless looked like massive rose, with a body of writhing vines and four extra long vines, riddled with thorns, forming limbs. The head was a large rose, with blood red petals, the dull yellow eyes of a Heartless, a Heartless emblem branded on it and several more vines shooting out from the maw of the Dark Bloom Heartless.

"You play nice now." And with that, Rosa vanished.

The others hit fighting stance in an instant, Claudio the first to lead the charge, hacking at the vines that shot out at him with High Streak. But the amount of vines overwhelmed him eventually as a large vine that lolled out of the Bloom's mouth like a tongue and scooped him lifted him up into the waiting mouth of the Heartless.

Sora had to stop dead in his tracks to prevent himself from laughing at the comical sight of Claudio's long legs sticking out of the Heartless. Before long, a yell came from the entrapping jaws and a tiny flare of fire could be seen before the Heartless ejected Claudio, still grasped by the tongue vine.

"Now I've been swallowed by a rose, a hippo and a giant sloth." Claudio deadpanned as the Dark Bloom swung him to-and-fro with the vine. "And Sora, I heard you laughing. I'm coming to get you buddy." He barked at the Keyblade Master who was now engaged in combat like the others. Jack began to dance about the Heartless, unleash Fire and Blizzard spells at the beast to keep its vines at bay. Kairi and Sora were both jumping into the fray, hacking and slicing at the body of writhing vines with Keyblades, light and fire. Rain stayed to the air, peppering the Heartless with energy blasts and swooping in at the thing with her arm blades.

As Sora dodged a stab from a vine and scorched it to pieces with a fireball, he mentally contacted Roxas. _We could really use your help now buddy!_ He stressed at his Nobody.

_I've been trying man!_ Roxas answered back from inside Sora's head. _But I think Namine and I were out too long the other day and need to recharge._

"Now ya tell me!" Sora shouted in frustration. He caught a look at Kairi who has the same frustrated look on her face, apparently also having contacted Namine and coming to the same conclusion. They didn't have "blonde support".

During this, Claudio was being tossed around in the air by the vine and was having a hell of a time sawing through it. Rain saw this and swooped to an even level with the vine. Her thin wings folded out onto her shoulders and began to charge with a golden light. "Solar Ray!" Twin beams of light shot out and pierced the vine, tearing through them like lances of searing heat.

Claudio hit the snow with a muffled _thump_ before getting up and smiling at Rain. "Thanks love!" He smiled at her before kipping up and joining the retreating allies. The rampaging flower was definitely proving to be a more powerful match than its mistress.

"We can't keep fighting like this." Jack analyzed breathlessly. He was right, hacking at the demon prove fruitless, its vines seemed to grow back at a speed that rivalled Claudio's healing factor. Burning it with fire proved equally useless.

"Any ideas then, Bone-Jangles?" Claudio said. Kairi had to smile at the fact that Claudio was using his mocking nicknames again.

"I think we need to wreathe its body in flames with one single strike. That should do it."

Claudio sighed in dismay. "Two days where I use more energy than I should." He muttered, stepping forward to the proverbial plate. Kairi stuck her arm out to stop her.

"Actually, I think I'll handle this." She said. "After seeing Nam's Thor's Hammer, I've been wanting to try this out."

She stepped up and held Oathkeeper, the pure white blade now shining with a soft blue light. And then she began to dance. Pivoting around on one foot and then swinging to the next and began to spin about again on her other foot. As she danced, soft blue flakes began to lift off of her body and her Keyblade, floating around the air about her. Anything the icy flakes adhered to, like the Dark Bloom, began to freeze as the tiny specks spread into a film of glowing ice. The others could feel the air around them turn cold – well, colder – sharply as Kairi continued her attack, freezing the vines the Heartless used to move about in place. As the attack commenced, Claudio and Rain couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity about the dance. On the world of Ivalice, young girls of the city of Rabanastre would often perform a dance like that, the two wandering warriors having seen them do it on the street. It also reminded them of the Sending Dance performed by the Summoners of Spira. The ritual was used to send departed humans and fiends to the Farplane and it seemed now that Kairi's attack would send the Heartless to oblivion.

When the dance completed, the Dark Bloom was covered in a film of ice, nearly all of its body covered by it, and a fine screen of the icy flakes surrounded Kairi and the Dark Bloom. Kairi sheathed Oathkeeper and then stepped forward to the largest of the flakes she had created. She simply held up a finger to the flake and called out, "Shatter Heart!" Kairi touched the flake with the lightest of touches and the entire screen of flakes rippled, sending off a chain reaction. Each flake bloomed into a spiky flower of ice and the film on the Heartless expanded and merged together into a massive sheet of shining ice before it bloomed into a shell of icy spikes and spires.

The ice shattered to pieces and the Heartless lurched back in apparent pain as darkness began to leak off the plant-like Heartless and the beast began to evaporate from existence. As the body faded away, a tiny pink heart floated from the body and into the air.

The others greeted Kairi, who had fallen to her knees from the energy required for her Shatter Heart attack, praising her ability and clapping her on the back for victory. Before long, the other settled down and Kairi was facing Claudio directly.

"So, are you two willing to tell us what you were fighting about?" She asked with a sweet smile.

Claudio began to scratch the back of his head through his toque. "Well not exactly…um…not really…uh…its kinda difficult, Your Majesty."

Kairi shook her head in annoyance. "Well then, if I am your majesty, I command you to tell me what you were talking about." She crossed her arms defiantly as Claudio began to stammer nervously. "That was a _royal_ command, Sir Claudio."

Rain stepped in for her husband. "It was something concerning our past." She then looked to Sora and Kairi. "And, if you will allow us, we wish to tell you in our own time."

Claudio stopped stammering and managed to bring himself to verbal composure. "Yeah! What she said!"

Kairi, who up until this point had been doing her best to maintain her composure, began to crack up and started to laugh at Claudio's response, which was totally opposite of what she thought his response would be. Claudio nervously chuckled a little bit too and glanced over to Rain, who was just shaking her head.

Just then, one of the medallions in Sora's pocket began to shine and rise above the ground. Sora instinctively shot a ray of light from his Keyblade through it and another beam shot out into the sky and out to the reaches of the heavens.

"I'll take that means your time here is over?" Jack asked the group.

"Yep." Sora confirmed, sheathing his Keyblade. "See you around some other time, 'kay?"

"Of course." Jack said with a deep bow. "Of course, of course we shall Sora. So now I say farewell to you Keyblader Masters and good luck upon your journey!" The other said their goodbyes and retreated up the snowy bank so they could warp back to the Gummi Ship.

"Definitely a good day." Claudio muttered to himself before the beam of light overtook him and warped him back to the Ship.

**To Be Continued**

_Anyways, that about does it. Again sorry for being so late… but hey, at least you get a bit of foreshadowing for future events and an obligatory character development chapter for Rain. Hope to see you all in a few weeks after building up my chapter base._

Journal Set #8

Rosa

The Twelfth-Ranked Immortal, Rosa is vain and arrogant, prone to mocking her opponents when she has the upper hand in battle. She appeared before the group on Halloween Town, mocking their skills before escaping to Christmas Town. She faced them once more and was defeated by a tandem of Rain and Claudio. Rosa wields a katana into battle and possesses various energy techniques. Her biggest skill is her "Eye of Fear" technique, which allows her to trap an enemy in their subconscious, forcing them to face their biggest fear.

Dark Bloom

A massive rose-like Heartless summoned by Rosa on Halloween Town. The fiendish plant managed to stymie out heroes with its ability to constantly re-grow its own body. Kairi defeated it when she unveiled her new "Shatter Heart" technique. This Heartless was created from the heart of the Somebody of Marluxia.

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	22. Catastrophe: Off the Beaten Track

_Finally, finally, finally...I have my computer back!_

_For around three months I have had zero internet and my computer has been in the shop to fix it up but it is back now so you can expect semi-regular updates from me now._

_The next three chapters are some of my personal favourites, with some major twists and some interesting events. So...enjoy!_

Chapter 22: Catastrophe: Off the Beaten Track

Following the trial that was Halloween Town, Claudio was more than happy to be out of the snow and into the Gummi Ship and its heated floors. The others did have similar feelings but didn't express it as much as Claudio who claimed he doesn't "Have the same amount of energy in the cold". But no matter what the feeling was for the weather, everyone aboard the ship was happy to be away from Rosa and her nightmare inducing powers. Claudio was still being a silent, sullen bugger about his vision. Rain was also ignoring any questions about her fear but being more kind and subtle about it, but then again she was kinder and subtler about everything when compared to her husband. In the end though, nothing Sora and Kairi (or Roxas and Namine) could do for the two warriors would cause them to pry their lips. Bribes of money and food did nothing and even when Kairi gave a royal command to Claudio (much to her chagrin and discomfort) he would not say a single word. By the end of the first day removed from Halloween Town, Sora, Kairi, Roxas and Namine had all come to the conclusion that whatever Claudio and Rain saw, it definitely scared the two seemingly fearless warriors.

But, at the same time, it drew the two back together. The genial, helpful and energetic couple that the others remembered from earlier days in the adventure replaced the formerly sullen and bitter married couple once more. Rain had explained that the visions "Showed us the worst path in life that we could possibly travel. If we continued barking at one another's throats, then that terrible future would come to past. We didn't want that, we didn't want to be fighting with everyone else and those nightmares helped us get things into perspective".

As of now though, the six crewmates (counting the two Nobodies who were now once again in solid form with their Keyblades on their laps) were involved in a different battle. A battle for world conquest! Sora had gotten the smart idea to have a crew-wide game of RISK while they were on their way to the next world and the six had been playing since the previous night. Roxas and Namine, Sora and Kairi and Claudio and Rain were all in unspoken alliances with one another. Claudio and Rain jointly controlled the entire western hemisphere as well as several 'colonies' (as they put it) in Africa, Europe and the Oceanic area. The remaining four participants had a split in the remaining European, African, Asian and Oceanic countries.

It was currently Sora's turn and he gripped one of his pieces, looking at his options. He could either attack Roxas to stem the tide and maintain safety for his European territories or attack Claudio and steal away all of his European countries and destroy any plans he and Rain might have. He pivoted his piece towards Claudio and his black pieces.

The silver-blue haired warrior glared at the plastic cannon token. "Attack me and I will punch you in the head." He threatened in a low growl.

Sora pivoted the cannon towards Roxas's yellow pieces. "If you don't attack him then I'll punch you from inside your head." The blonde said in the same tone as Claudio.

Sora repeatedly pivoted his red cannon between the yellow of Roxas and the black of Claudio before he grabbed the sides of his head and yelled out. "This is too hard! Why did I ever pick up this accursed game?"

And then, the ship began to rock and sway in a massive way, as if something hit it. Needless to say, this knocked the players and the card table they were playing on, dumping everything to the floor.

"I am lying on the soldier pieces." Claudio deadpanned from his prone position on the floor. "They are very pointy."

"I think I swallowed one of the dice…" Namine moaned.

"Get off me, Sora." Roxas grumbled from underneath his brunette Somebody. Lucky for him, the ship began to rock again, sending everyone tumbling again.

"What is going on?" Rain asked as she helped Claudio up, who was preoccupied picking RISK pieces from out of his hair. "Did we wander into a meteor shower or something?" She asked Sora, the most experienced at Gummi travel.

Sora charged to the flight deck of the ship and they instantly could see what was going on. They were now engaged in a dogfight against a massive fleet of Heartless and Nobody ships. The various ships were circling around the cruising vessel like vultures at a carcass, before they veered off and rammed into the Gummi Ship, which is what caused the massive rocking from before. Nearly simultaneously, three Nobody ships stopped their looping course and rammed into the Gummi Ship, tossing the crew over and nearly flipping the entire space faring vessel.

"This doesn't make any sense." Sora said as he saw the Kamikaze strategy of the enemy ships. "Heartless and Nobody ships try to make it to other worlds without being destroyed so they can release themselves onto the world. It makes no sense if they're suicide bombing us!" Another shockwave rocked the ship.

After clambering up from the backlash, Claudio snatched Sora by the collar and began to shake the Keyblader around. "Try telling that to the guys who are suicide bombing us you spike-headed moron!!!!!" The others were more than certain that Claudio was going to kill Sora then and there but he was stopped by another series shockwaves from the suicidal ships, dropping both choker and chokee to the floor.

"Okay, everyone to weapon panels!" Sora ordered, shaking himself out of a daze. Everyone nodded and began to move but Kairi stood still.

"That won't work." Kairi retorted. "They obviously don't care if they live or die so shooting at them is pointless. And there is way too many for us to take out. If we just attack them, some will get by use and continue bombing us. If they keep bombing us we're sunk!"

"She's has a point." Rain said. Another ship rammed into the Gummi.

"Well what do we do then?" Sora asked.

"I guess we have to land on the nearest world." Roxas suggested. "Even if this swarm doesn't let up, we can repair the ship and be prepared for the worst when we take to the skies again."

"What's the decision Captain Kirk?" Claudio asked Sora as yet another series of shockwaves rocked the flight deck. Sirens and claxons began to blare into their ears, signalling they were in trouble.

"What's the nearest world?" Sora asked.

Namine peered out one of the deck's windows. "It looks like…Twilight Town?"

Sora looked at Roxas before shrugging. "We got no choice." Sora ran to the control panel and forced the ship to move away from the marauding bombers to the safety of the world below. Oddly enough, as soon as the ship got close to the atmosphere of Twilight Town, the armada that had been previously attacking them non-stop stayed back before scattering away from their previous target.

The crew parked the damaged ship in a grove of trees outside the town and soon enough they were within the walls of Twilight Town, the sun hanging in the sky that gave the town the perpetual sensation of dawn or twilight, colouring the sky either rose or indigo. Claudio gave a sniff as he entered the town and Rain had to roll her eyes, being the only one that knew how Claudio felt about this town.

"We have about two hours to kill before the auto-repair is finished." Sora summed up. "What do you guys feel like doin' until then?" The others looked at one another before Roxas spoke up.

"I actually want to head over to the old mansion." The blonde ex-Organization member admitted. "I wanna see if I can still access the Virtual Twilight Town." He then looked over to Namine. "Feel like joining me on a trip down memory lane?" He stuck out his arm in a gentlemanly fashion.

The blonde girl had to giggle at the chivalrous display. "It sounds like a date, sir." She took his arm and the two Nobodies walked off towards where the mansion was.

Sora and Kairi looked worriedly at their Nobodies. Rain took the hint that they were worried as to what would happen to their shades. The other members of the crew still had no idea as to why Roxas and Namine could only phase out at will before and now could assume solid forms when they summoned their Keyblades (which they tended to hook into their belts when not fighting) and were worried as to what could or would possibly happen to them.

"I'll go with them." Rain said, stepping after the two blondes. "You know, as a 'chaperone'." She smiled at them before turning to Claudio. "Wanna come with, make it a double date?"

Claudio shrugged casually. "Actually I think I'll…look around for a bit." Rain looked curiously at her husband before walking off to join Namine and Roxas. Claudio then turned to Sora and Kairi.

"And what do you two kids have planned for today?"

"I guess we'll go looking around like you." Sora said. Claudio nodded before taking off. Being Claudio, he couldn't do things the simple, normal way. Instead, he leapt up onto the rooftop of a nearby building and began to walk across them with intense speed, leaping from one roof to another.

"We are friends with the strangest people." Kairi admitted, hanging her head in semi-dismay. Sora patted her on the back and smiled.

"Buck up, Kai." He said cheerily. "It's time to take you on the grand tour of Twilight Town." He then smiled mischievously. "I'll just make sure not to take you to the Usual Spot."

Kairi groaned at the memory. Back on her first journey to Twilight Town, she only got to see the Usual Spot before she spilled her guts Pence, Hayner and Olette and then Axel appeared and kidnapped her…and then Saix kidnapped her!

"I never knew someone could make you feel happy and depressed at the same time." She said with a shake of her head before the two set off towards the usual hub of activity in town, the Sandlot.

And the hub of activity it was! Twilight Towners of all ages were gathered around on bleachers set up underneath a large, colourful banner with the word 'STRUGGLE' on it. Without much of a second thought, Sora rushed up to the raised platform in the center of the lot, leaving Kairi to try and keep up with him. Sora had told Kairi and Riku all about the Struggle contests in Twilight Town (it was rather unnecessary to tell Riku but he still told him) and later he told Tidus and Wakka, which led to several spirited debates as to which sport was better, Struggle or Blitz.

Several competitors were already lined up on the raised platform as well as several other kids, cheering on their friends. Sora instantly spotted Hayner, Pence and Olette and ran up to them.

"Hey guys!" He greeted and the three Twilight Towners smiled at the arrival of the Islanders.

"Sora! Kairi!" Hayner greeted, shaking hands with the Keyblade Master. "Glad to see you're back."

"I guess everything worked out from a couple of months ago." Pence said and the two nodded. "So no black cloaked guys will be showing up today?" Both Kairi and Sora shook their heads. "All's well that end's well I guess."

"It ended better than well," said Kairi with a playful smile. She wrapped her arms around Sora and gave him a quick peck on the cheeks, causing the Keyblade Master to blush.

Olette covered in mouth in a gasp. "Oh! I knew you two would get together!" The brunette girl squealed.

Hayner and Pence simultaneously rolled their eyes. "Girls." Muttered Hayner. He then turned to Sora. "You gonna sign up for the Struggle, man?"

"Of course!" Sora exclaimed. "What about you Kai?"

"A girl? In Struggle? Don't make me laugh!" A voice sneered. Approaching the fivesome were the self-proclaimed Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee, Fuu, Rai, Vivi and Seifer, the owner of the voice.

"Oh God, not this guy again!" Sora moaned. Hayner glared at Seifer, as did Kairi for the girl comment Seifer just made.

Seifer's eyes fell on Sora. "Well if it isn't Twilight Town's newest hero." The arrogant teen mocked. "Hope you sign up for the Struggle there spike-head. I've been waiting for an opportunity to beat you down and take that trophy back."

Rai nodded idiotically. "Yeah, Seifier's gonna own, y'know!" Sora groaned at the simplistic, sycophantic response.

"And what makes you think I'm not gonna beat you, Seifer?" Hayner put in but Seifer just shot him down.

"You?" Seifer repeated in astonishment, chuckling. "Don't make me laugh, chicken-wuss. Fuu, remind us what happened the last time I took on blondie here."

"Beat down." Fuu replied in a dead-tone.

Kairi decided to finally step in. "And what was that comment about girls in Struggle?" She asked and Seifer chuckle again.

"Listen sweetie, in Struggle, girls stay on the sidelines to cheer for their boyfriends." He looked from Sora to Kairi. "And your little spike-topped boy toy's gonna need some cheering after I whoop his ass!" Seifer smirked in distaste before turning around, Fuu, Rai and the ever-timid Vivi following him.

"I know Princesses shouldn't say this," Kairi began as Seifer walked away. "But I hate that guy."

"It's a natural feeling." Sora said casually. "Now, I think the question is: what are you gonna do about it?"

With a tiny hint of a smile, Kairi said, "Get me a bat!"

After signing up both Sora and Kairi and getting their bats, all the Struggle participants took their places on the raised platform. Sora, who was at the end of the line, looked down the row of Strugglers to see who was in the competition of eight; including himself and Kairi he saw Hayner, Seifer, Rai, Setzer and two other competitors he didn't recognize. The first was an average-sized teenager with wild, spiky dirty blonde hair. He wore dark cargo pants; boots and a jacket that was zipped up so high, you couldn't see the shirt underneath it. The jacket was blue at the bottom, red at the top and highlighted with yellow trim. He also had gloves, elbow pads and shoulder pads hidden under a large yellow scarf wrapped around his neck and left billowing over his left shoulder. The second new competitor was a much older teen, eighteen or nineteen, dressed in punk style. He had thin, straight black hair and a black soul patch on his chin. He wore a black "Bad Religion" band shirt over another white shirt, red nylon shorts that were surprisingly branded with the Pepsi logo and boots that had white X's taped along the side. He also wore a toque and his fists were taped up, the back of each hand branded with a large black "X" and various tattoos and piercings were visible on his body.

The ref went down the line, introducing each competitor in turn before getting to the two new participants.

"First, a new entry in the Struggle. The silent hero of Twilight Town, ladies and gents: Isaac!"

The blonde teen waved to the crowd and was greeted by the normal generic cheering from the crowd. Sora also noted that he had his own cheering section, two teenage guys, one with red hair and the other with dirty blonde hair, and a girl with blue hair. The ref then went to the older teen and shook his hand. Sora now noticed the older teen had the Struggle Championship belt around his waist.

"And now, ladies and gentleman, I introduce to you all the current Struggle Champion! He's truth, he is real, he's straightedge and that means he's better than you. This is… C…M…PUNK!!!"

The crowd erupted into cheers with one section of teens chanting out "CM Punk! CM Punk!" in support of the champion. The Strugglers then gathered into the center of the ring, gathering in a circle and putting their bats together into the circle.

"Now, I want a nice, clean Struggle between all you." The ref said in customary manner. Each participant was eyeing the other seven but they each had their eye on one particular opponent. Kairi and Hayner eyed Seifer while he did the same to Kairi. In the meantime, Setzer and CM Punk were eyeing one another while Sora was looking at the quiet Isaac from across the ring, wondering what his story was.

In the end, he had little time to thing as everyone dipped their bats into the circle and called out together to begin the tournament:

"LET'S… STRUGGLE!!!!"

**KHKHKH**

Claudio was still building hopping when he decided that, for once and for all, he hated this town. When he had moved his Heartless Hunting business from Traverse to Twilight Town, he was optimistic that it would pan out. It didn't. And he blamed the citizens of Twilight Town who pretty much just mocked the business because it focused on fighting "imaginary" creatures. He spent three months in this town not earning a penny, forcing him to steal from the local businesses to survive. Then Terra came. And the rest, as they say, is history…

Finishing his building excursion, Claudio leapt down to street level with his normal, amazing deftness and grace. As he hit the cobblestones, he shifted High Streak around on his shoulder to keep his balance and prevent a fall. When he managed to stay afoot, he looked about and sighed.

"I hate this town." He muttered. "It's always so boring here."

"How could it be? If you're here."

Claudio instantly recognized the voice and turned around to see his favourite one-armed, undead Ronin. "Auron! You old Spiran dog." Claudio called out to his old friend, walking towards him and clapping him on the shoulder of the arm that was perpetually in a sling when he wasn't fighting.

"Claudio." Auron replied with a curt nod.

"So, how's it been, buddy?" Claudio asked. Auron shrugged and Claudio shook his head in dismay. He enjoyed the company of Auron well enough but he found the man rather stiff and rather difficult to open up in a conversation. But that was Auron and Claudio had learned to deal with his types on his travels. "Come on, don't be like that…you wouldn't be givin' me the silent treatment if Jecht was around. Or Braska."

"Jecht and Braska are dead." Auron replied.

"Oh…" Claudio said, realizing his tactlessness about the situation. After all, it had been over a decade since he'd last seen the three nomads from Spira.

Auron continued. "But then again, I'm technically dead too."

Claudio blinked unsteadily. "Now Auron, remember that this statement is coming from a guy who has died multiple times and come back to life on each separate occasion: that's a little messed." Auron grunted and shrugged the comment off. "So, what happened?

"Braska, Jecht and I saved Spira, I died, came back as an Unsent, save Spira yet again, got transported to this weird Underworld and then was helped up by a scrawny teenager."

Claudio shook his head and chuckled. "Wish I could say my life was like that. Instead I have to deal with a bunch of teenagers and fight off a bunch of sociopathic, homicidal, half-insane lunatics intent on killing me." An awkward pause then fell on the two friends and their conversation.

Then Claudio said, "Did you bring the jug?"

Auron smirked from under the collar of his coat. "I was wondering when you would ask." Auron took out his left arm from his sling and hefted the jug of sake in front of Claudio.

Claudio's eyes lit up at the sight.

**KHKHKH**

"AHHH!!!! WHAT THE HELL DO WE DO?!??!!?"

Ed was running back and forth (along with Al) as the ship began to be blasted by suicide bomber Heartless ships. The two Amestrisians, along with Riku, were in the same situation that the other group was in a little while ago. An armada of enemy bogies, who were constantly kamikazing the ship, surrounded them. After the ship was rocked by another kamikaze shockwave, Riku clambered up to the control console and slammed down on a button.

"Shut up Ed!" Riku shouted to the alchemist, who had less experience travelling in space than Riku did. "Computer! Give me the stats on the ship!"

"One moment please…" The computer replied in its robotic voice. After a few second, it responded again. "Weapon Systems: Offline. Shields: Offline. Auxiliary Thrust: Offline. Engine Strength: 60% and failing. Power System: 70% and falling. Life Support: 70% and falling."

Riku slammed his fist down on the console. "Damn hunk of junk!" He roared in frustration. "Looks like we have no choice." Riku growled, turning to the Elric Brothers. "We gotta make a crash landing." Riku gripped the joystick on the ship's console and forced it as far left as it would go. The ship then went on zooming downward spiral to the nearest world they could land on: Twilight Town.

"Uh, Riku?" Ed said from behind his shoulders as the ship sped into the atmosphere of Twilight Town. "Do these crash landing things hurt? I mean, I know crash landings hurt but do they hurt more when you are hurtling through space?"

"Remember the landing we made when landed on the Deep Jungle?" Both Elrics nodded. "Yeah, this will probably hurt, like, twice as much."

Ed's face nearly fell off. "Damn it…"

**KHKHKH**

The Struggle Tournament advanced rather quickly, only taking the better part of an hour in the afternoon. But Sora did feel good to get out of the normal groove of battling for his life and trying to save the universe and both he and Kairi enjoyed the time they had together. The first round was the quickest with Sora taking on Rai, Sezter facing Punk, Isaac against Hayner and Seifer versus Kairi. Sora defeated Rai in short order, knocking the big lug out with only two attacks but he was definitely surprised by the results of the next bouts. Both Setzer and Hayner were defeated by their opponents; the crowd seem to expect that Punk would win, him being the champ and all, but everyone was rather shocked when Isaac one. When the silent teen collected the last orb, the entire Sandlot fell silent, save for Isaac's friends, Garret, Mia and Ivan. When the final match came around, Seifer, still spouting a load of chauvinistic garbage, got put in his place when Kairi swatted the Struggle bat out of his hands and proceeded to smash him around the arena before the time expired. Following the match, and a forced apology from Seifer, the so-called Disciplinary Committee walked off in a huff after Seifer was ridiculed and jeered out of the arena.

The semi-finals took a little bit longer but it was still a walk in the part for the Keybladers, even if Punk surprised Sora a little bit. Despite his – pardon the pun – punkish appearance, the older teen showcased drive and skill in the battle against Sora and, even though he lost, Sora looked at Punk with a warrior's respect, and Punk the same to Sora. Kairi defeated Isaac in the same fashion as Sora beat Punk. The blonde teen put up a hard fight but Kairi still managed to beat him. After the loss, Isaac dusted himself off, nodded to Kairi and walked off to join his friends, never saying a word.

In the final round, Sora and Kairi began the battle with Struggle bats in hand but soon decided to eschew them and summon their Keyblades in place, demonstrating their skills against one another. Earlier on in the journey, they use to have sparring matches against one another but since it had been so long, Sora was rather surprised by Kairi's advanced skills in combat, especially concerning her light skills. By the end of the battle, Sora was the victor and both were breathless and laughing. The other teens still watching thought they were a little insane, laughing after a Struggle and all, but they still cheered the couple throughout the entire contest.

Following the tournament, Sora, Kairi, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Punk, Isaac, Ivan, Garret and Mia were all gathered around the vacant Sandlot, just relaxing and talking. Punk had just come back from a drink run and was tossing cans of cold pop to the other teens, Sora catching his with difficulty while managing to keep his newly won title belt shouldered.

Hayner looked at his can with a crooked eye. "All you got was Pepsi, CM?" Hayner complained.

Punk had his finger hovering over the tab when he looked up. "What?" He shrugged casually. "I like Pepsi." He then snapped the tab open with a loud _'Hiss'_ and took a healthy swallow of his favourite drink.

"What does the 'CM' stand for anyway?" Kairi asked the punkish teen.

Punk looked over at Kairi before taking a healthy gulp of Pepsi. "Charles Manson." He gasped and went back to inhaling his soda.

The group then went back to the conversation at hand before Punk returned with drinks. "So, what exactly happened the last time Kairi showed up?" Asked Garrett, Isaac's red-haired friend. Having not being around during the event and not believing Hayner at first, he and the other four were curious.

"Well for starters she didn't 'show up'." Hayner began, his Pepsi untouched. Punk saw this and made a move for it. "Kairi sort of just fell through the wall in the Usual Spot." By now, Punk was draining Hayner's can as well.

"And then this guy in a black cloak with red hair showed up and took her away." Olette finished. Everyone silently agreed that it was odd that both Axel and Garrett had boisterous personalities, spiked red hair and an affinity for fire.

"Yeah, but Axel…he's a nice guy." Sora said. He still remembered how Axel gave up his life to let him through to The World That Never Was. It was definitely one of the things that stood out on all of his journeys. "And before you ask Pence, this time there will be no guys in black showing up." Sora said, spying the opening mouth of Pence out of the corner of his eyes.

Kairi leaned over to him a whispered, "Yeah, this time they'll be guys in white." The two laughed over how things had changed in only a few months.

Punk scratched his head. "I've learned not to ask what's going on when couples whisper things into each others ears and laugh." Punk commented, nervously fiddling with his two empty Pepsi cans. "And since I don't understand half of what goes on concerning these two, I'm not even going to imagine asking what they just laughed about."

"Was it necessary to make that sentence that complex?" Ivan, the other teen with dirty blonde hair, asked Punk.

He crushed one of his cans. "Yes. Yes, it was."

The group then noticed the ever-quiet Isaac rise from his place. The others turned to where he was looking and saw several inky black pools spread across the sandy ground of the Sandlot. Heartless were wriggling their way out of the holes and crawling out onto the ground, scouring the ground with their heads as if they had noses to sniff.

"Who hired the cartoons?" Punk asked, clearly never seeing any Heartless before in his life.

"Not these guys again." Pence groaned loudly.

Sora pulled Kairi back and whispered into her ear. "We can't fight them here." He said. "It'd put the others in too much danger."

"Yeah." Kairi agreed before checking back on the Heartless. There were tons of them, a little over hundred if she was any judge. "Not to mention I think there are too many of them for us to fight."

"So…we retreat and try and find the others?" Sora asked and the redhead nodded. Sora then decided to put his plan into action. He jumped out into plain view of the Heartless, Oblivion in hand.

"Hey Heartless! Heartless! Over here!" He yelled out to the wriggling shadows. "Come on! I know you see me! A pair of Keyblade Masters right here! Ten-thousand points a pop!" The Heartless still paid him no mind, still twitching and mindlessly marching in an aimless direction. Sora then decided to take what he called the 'Claudio Route'. "Hey! You bunch of freaky Cartoon Network rejects!" He taunted the swarm of Heartless, a few of them turning their heads to face him. "Yeah, ya heard me you buggers! Now what'cha gonna do about it? Huh? Huh?"

The Heartless made a dash for Sora.

In an instant, both Keybladers bolted from the Sandlot and ran as fast as their legs could take them. It seemed that whenever they passed a side street, more Heartless would pour out of that street, forcing them to stick to one path and one path only.

"Well, it seems that my plan worked." Sora said with a half smile on his face.

"I think it worked too well!" Kairi said back, looking over her shoulder to see the marauding armada of Heartless following them.

**KHKHKH**

Namine, Roxas and Rain walked out from the hole that lead to the forest on the outskirts of Twilight Town. The journey to the Virtual Town had been more of a soul-soothing journey than anything else. A way to gain closure on prior events. And, although Roxas admitted he would miss Virtual Twilight Town and all its pleasent memories, he was glad to be out in the world, in the flesh and alive.

As they began to search for one of the others, Rain couldn't help but look towards the famous sun of the town, always hanging in the sky in a form of perpetual dusk or dawn. She couldn't help her mind from wandering, especially after the journey through Roxas and Namine's virtual past. The way they pointed out specific events and what had happened where, why it was important and how they felt about it...the entire time made her think about herself and her own fate, her own past.

The ever astute Namine noticed this train of thought. "Something on your mind, Rain?" She asked.

"Hm?" Rain turned to the blonde. "Oh, nothing." She said quietly. "I'm just thinking about..." She trailed off into silent mumbling.

"This have something to do with Rosa and the visions?" Roxas asked. Rain turned sharply and slowly backed away from the Nobody. "Hey! There's no need to back away from like that." Rain persisted in her back-peddling. "I know it's a touchy subject but-"

A sudden tap on his shoulder by Namine and Roxas pivoted to see a swathe of Heartless, crawling over one another from the hole in the wall. Roxas began to back away slowly from the Heartless, like a hiker confronted by a large predator. No sudden movements.

Unfortunately for them, Heartless weren't as intelligent as a large predator. The mindless shades bolted, en masse, at the two blondes and the red-head. Roxas's hand instantly shot to the hilt of Guardian Soul but Rain snagged him by the collar and forced him into half-drag, half-run away from the swarm of yellow-eyed demons.

"Mind telling me why we're running?" Roxas asked as the group advanced through the heart of Twilight Town. "Usually we fight first, run later."

Rain turned to face the lagging blondes. "Too many Heartless." Rain explained conceicely. "Plus, I sense the others, they're being chased by the Heartless as well. Best for us to join up and deal with them." She then extended her arms out to the Nobodies. "Grab on!"

Looking at each other, Roxas and Namine reluctantly snatched onto Rain's wrists before she darted off down the dun-coloured cobblestones with her superspeed, dragging the hapless teens behind her.

**KHKHKH**

"Remember the time we reached the Moonflow?" Claudio called out jovially to Auron. He took a swig of sake from the clay jug before tossing it to Auron. The two were lounging atop the Twilight Town train station, using the massive clocktower as a back rest.

Auron took a drink of the rice wine and chuckled. "How could I forget?" The legendary guardian said. "It was the first time Jecht ever saw a Shupuff. He was so drunk he thought it was a fiend and killed." He tossed the jug back.

Claudio caught the jug of sake deftly. "Man alive, were those Hypello's pissed!" He took a deep swallow of the alcohol and sighed loudly, gazing out to the sun. "I miss those days." He finally said sadly, handing off the jug once more.

"I do too." Auron agreed, palming his sword and his sake jug. "Mainly, I miss being alive." Claudio gazed over at the old ronin.

"I was trying to be serious." He snapped. Normally, when Auron took his sweet time with the sake jug, he would get impatient beyond belief, but that wasn't the case right now. "A lot has changed, Auron." He raised his hand to block the sunlight and clenched his black-gloved fist. "A lot." Auron grunted in response and offered the warrior his jug but Claudio waved it off, another uncharacteristic sign.

Suddenly, a rabble began to rise up from the plaza below the clocktower. Claudio peered over lazily to see Sora and Kairi come up a pathway to the plaza, followed by a swarm of Heartless. Out of his eyesight, Rain, Namine and Roxas were also being chased towards the plaza as were Riku and the Elric Brothers.

"Yo!" Claudio called out from the rooftop. "Sora! Kairi! Up here!" Claudio leapt off to meet the two Keybearers with Auron following shortly afterwards. The others were also converging to the center of the plaze, the Heartless armadas forming a ring around them.

"Claudio!" Sora called out before catching a glimpse of the man behind him. "Auron?"

"Sora." Auron greeted.

Claudio shook his head. "Sora? Auron?"

"Auron?" Kairi asked.

Sora jumped to it. "Auron, Kairi. Kairi, Auron." He introduced.

"Sora! Kairi! Claudio!" Riku called, running to his friends, the alchemists dogging his heels.

"Riku!" Sora shouted.

"Al!" Kairi called to the suit of armour.

"Ed," greeted Claudio coolly.

The dimunite alchemist/Keyblader nodded and then turned his head to another member of the group. "Auron?"

"Mr. Auron?" Alphonse piped in.

"Ed. Al." Came the ronin.

"Ed?" Claudio looked bewildered. "Al? Auron?"

"Auron?" Riku asked. Ed began the introductions.

"Riku, Auron. Auron, Riku."

"Claudio!" Shouted Rain. "Riku!"

Claudio grinned. "Rain!"

"Sora!" Roxas called out. "Edward!"

"Kairi!" Namine did likewise. "Alphonse."

Ed looked at the two blonde counterparts. "Sora? Kairi?"

Sora shook his head. "No. Roxas and Namine.

"Roxas?" Al asked.

"Namine?" Ed scratched his head.

"Rain?" Auron turned to Sora.

"Auron, Ed, Al," Sora began. "Roxas, Namine, Rain."

Auron nodded. "Rain, Roxas, Riku, Namine, Kairi."

"Roxas." Ed said.

"Namine," said Alphonse.

"Auron," Rain understood at last.

"Stop it!" Kairi shouted, breaking into the ridiculous chain of introductions. "This is getting _really_ annoying!"

"The royal pain in the ass is right."

The group of ten turned to the roof of the station where the sneering voice and called out. A dark haze began to form in the air, which began to ripple, revealing the form of the predatory Immortal, Kaiser.

"No," Claudio stressed under his breath as the cruel hunter grinned down on the Keybladers. A dark haze, like the one that proceeded Kaiser's appearance, began to fall down on the streets, making it appear as if the train station, the plaze and the clocktower were floating inside an endless black void. The orange sunlight was replaced by a sickly dark and crimson light that shone upon the plaza. After the phenomenom settled, it became apparent that the Heartless droves had vanished as well.

Kaiser nodded approvingly of the shroud of shadows. "I have to say, those Heartless definitely did the trick here."

"Wait a minute," Sora said, "You were the one who sent those Heartless after us?"

Kaiser titled his head back and laughed evilly. "Damn straight!" The Immortal said. "You've humiliated the Immortals too many times so I took it onto myself to rid us of you and your calvacade of idiots and weaklings." His cat-like eyes fell on Sora with inhuman malice. "So I had those Heartless round you up into one group." He flashed his claws outward, glinting in the artificial crimson light. "Let this town be the anvil and we be the hammer!"

"Us?" Riku questioned, not looking forward to the answer.

Another shroud of dark haze appeared opposite of Kaiser, the air rippling to life to reveal Aeron, clutching the pommel of one of his broadswords.

"Not him again!" Ed cried, his hand shooting out and Fullmetal Fury coming into existence. Alphonse etched a quick transmutation circle onto the ground to create a spear for himself.

Aeron looked amused at the Elric Brothers and their weapons. "You really didn't think that Kaiser would come unprepared and empty handed." The Immortal said in his normal mocking tone. "After all it would be ten-against-one."

"Yeah, well I may not be the greatest mathemetician in the world," Sora shot back, "but the odds are still ten-on-one for us. Doesn't look too good for you guys."

Aeron sneered and Kaiser laughed again. "Don't you think we had that based covered too?" Kaiser asked. "Although we expected you only to have seven not ten it still makes no difference." Kaiser snapped his clawed fingers and five more of the dark shrouds appeared, giving form to Josef and Vaniele Trinity, Rosa, Starxys and Ramziel!

"Shit..." Claudio swore under his breath as everyone drew their weapons quickly. Kaiser had managed to gather every Immortal they had faced up to this point, minus Creed. Even though they had thoroughly beaten all of the present Immortal (save Kaiser and Ramziel), this wasn't going to be an easy battle.

Once again, Kaiser flexed his claws and smiled, bearing his fangs in a twisted, devilish grin.

"Let their blood flow!"

**To Be Continued**

_And there you have it! My triumphant return! Or semi-triumphant...either way its a return!_

_Also a note, I'm now typing on Open Office and I have yet to figure out how the spellcheck works so if there are more grammar and spelling errors than normal, now you have it._

Journal Set #9

Isaac

A rather silent teen of Twilight Town, even more so than Fuu, rarely ever saying a word. Isaac is a very skilled swordsman and possesses a unique brand of magic called Psyenergy, being able to control the elements of earth and plant. Isaac first appeared as the main protagonist in the GBA RPG, Golden Sun.

Garret

Isaac's best friend, Garret is much more talkactive, quick to anger and energetic than his friend, making up for his friend's constant silence. Garret is a much stronger fighter than Isaac and possesses a unique brand of magic called Psyenergy, being able to control the elements of fire and heat. Garret was originally the comic relief in the GBA RPG, Golden Sun.

Ivan

A shy and rather introverted boy, Ivan is a thinker and not much of a fighter but will jump to defend his friends if need be. Although not much of a fighter, Ivan possesses a unique magic called Psyenergy, being able to control the elements of wind and lightning. Ivan first appeared in the GBA RPG, Golden Sun.

Mia

A shy girl, Mia is very friendly, passionate and a caring person who hates violence and seeing people get hurt. Mia is not much of a physical fighter but she can use the unique magic, Psyenergy, being able to control the elements of water and ice. Mia first appeared in the GBA RPG, Golden Sun.

CM Punk

Another teen living in Twilight Town, CM Punk is a determined man who follows the mantra of a Straight-Edge lifestyle, abstaining from drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	23. Catastrophe: Revelations By Twilight

_[Cowering in the corner, we see, Angelo, now with shorter, closer cropped hair and wearing a jersey that said "Kwantlen Eagles", trembling in fear at the collected wroth of Sora, Kairi, Riku, Roxas, Namine, Claudio and Rain.]_

_Angelo: Mercy...please..._

_Riku: Mercy! We've been in perpetual limbo for nine god damn months and you want mercy?_

_[Angelo nods weakly. Rain and Riku both kick him in the head in unison]_

_Angelo: What did I do to deserve this!_

_Kairi: You bastard!_

_Angelo: Oh no..._

_[Kairi charges and smashes Angelo in the gut with both fists. He crumples to the floor]_

_Angelo: Well, I can honestly say that this isn't the worst a girl has ever done to me..._

_Sora: What's up with you?  
_

_Kairi: Have you read this chapter? It isn't even about me and I'm pissed!_

_[The others leave. Angelo tries to run off but Kairi kicks him in the nuts and sends him down again. Everyone else returns, even more angry now.]_

_Everyone: YOU BASTARD!_

_Angelo: Please, hear me out about...the chapter...and the hiatus..._

_Claudio: No. Talking time is over._

_[Claudio siezes him by the collar and begins to hurl him around like a ragdoll before spiking his head on the ground and chucking him across the stage]_

_Namine: Jeez, Claudio is even more pissed than normal._

_Roxas: Well, he is a creation of Angelo, ergo an extension of his personality. So, it's easy to see that he is the part of his mind acting out all of his inner anger._

_Sora: Okay...And you know this because..._

_Roxas: We've been in limbo for nine months. That's a lot of time to study psychology._

_[Currently, Rain was using the Rose Draw to bounce Angelo off the ground like a yo-yo. Riku then comes flying, dropkicking Angelo in the back and sending him flying to the feet of Namine and Kairi. Both girls are hefting their Keyblades]_

_Angelo: I've had this dream before...but I don't think this will end the same way._

_SIX HOURS LATER!_

_[The entire group stands about Angelo in a circle, each punching the author in turn]_

_Sora: This is for neglecting me in the story!  
_

_Roxas: This is for calling me chocobo hair!_

_Riku: This is for stealing ShireFolk's Dawn powers and giving them to me! I don't want to wield the power of copyright infringement!_

_Namine: This is for cutting off my hair!  
_

_Kairi: This is for that dream comment!  
_

_Claudio: This is for what you're gonna to do to me in the story!  
_

_Rain: This is for what you're going to do to ME in this story!_

_[Bloody and bruised, Angelo falls to the ground, as the others fall down, punch-drunk from the wicked thrashing]_

_Sora: Okay...you can explain yourself now._

_Angelo: First...that was an epic beating..._

_Riku: Thank you._

_Angelo: Second...my life has been hellish for lack of a better term. Starting in November...between four school plays, all my classes, a series of bad relationships and a crappy summer...I really had no desire to write and torment you all when my life was in the dumps. And now with college starting, its gonna be even harder...but I have my zest for writing back and I'll try._

_[After a brief silence, someone speaks up]_

_Kairi: Okay...I except that._

_Riku: Fine...but you've gotta say "sorry" to all your fans._

_Angelo: Fans? What fans are you talking about?_

_Namine: Say you're sorry!_

_Angelo: Never!_

_Claudio: Say it! [Angelo starts to run but Claudio pins him to the ground] Say it, or I'll force you to watch the English dub of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's!_

_Angelo: You don't have the balls..._

_Claudio: I also have One Piece in reserve..._

_Angelo: Okay! Uncle! Uncle! Just keep that crap away from me! I'm sorry! Forgive me my loyal...pair of fans! I'll try to repair this fic ASAP, so don't leave me. Please Review! Also, since he's given me a shout out, everyone who reads this fic, should be reading ShireFolk's works. He eclipses me greatly, and is a fellow Canadian, and I gotta support my home country. Enjoy the show!_

Chapter 23: Catastrophe: Revelations By Twilight

Red brick walls. Red brick floors. Red brick ceilings.

Terra couldn't help but reflect on the stark differences between the Organization's Castle That Never Was and the Immortal's Infinity Paradiso. Where the Castle That Never Was was nothing but pure white from base to peak (with the whiteness made more clear by the shadowy Dark City below the fortress), Infinity Paradiso was an entire monster entirely.

Starting with the landscape around the castle – a barren wasteland of spires, crags and unnatural rocky formations – to the castle itself, which had the form of a large stone drum at the bottom, seemingly carved out of a single black stone and, rising from the drum, was a smaller castle of faint green stone that began almost as wide as the drum but soon thinned out to near-impossibly thin spires at the tip of the castle.

The difference between the two parts on the outside wasn't just a design choice; Infinity Paradiso was actually two separate castles crushed together into layered monstrosity. The bottom portion was known as Pandemonium and the top section was Paradisium. The layout of Paradisium was unknown but Pandemonium was divided into three layers itself. The uppermost and bottommost sections were a series of large chambers connected together. In between were the endless catacombs of red hallways Terra was currently in, his eyes sore from constantly looking at the enchanted flames that lit the halls. Bright orange fire danced up and down iron pillars at every fifteen-foot interval.

Terra was followed by King Mickey, Donald Duck and Goofy. While he enjoyed the companionship, he felt fortunate the entirety of Infinity Paradiso was void of Immortals. The constant bickering and clanging of the latter two members of the party would draw their enemies on them faster than Goofy could say "Ahuyk!"

The party stopped short at a four-way crossroad, Donald and Goofy were fighting for some reason or another again and the King was doing his best to keep them quiet.

"Fellas," The King began, friendly as usual. "You all know that we have to stay as quiet as possible. If we make too much noise, then the Immortals will find us spying."

"No they won't." Terra corrected quickly, scanning all four paths of the four-way.

"Excuse me?" Mickey replied.

"They won't come. Because they can't. None of the Immortals are here right now."

"How do you know that?" Donald said impatiently, crossing his arms and tapping a webbed foot.

"I have my secrets." Terra responded as he normally did in these situations.

"Okay...But why are they not here?" The mage asked.

"Currently all twelve of the Immortals have converged at Twilight Town to do battle with Sora, Kairi, Riku, Roxas, Namine, Claudio, Rain, Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric and Auron." Terra replied with such speed and lack of emotion that the three Disney residence could have sworn he was reading from a script.

"Well then, we have to help them!" Goofy said. When no one responded, he added, "Don't we?"

Terra began to move down the left path. The three followed him, trying to keep up with his rushed pace. "No. They should be able to hold there own just fine. Although..." Terra kept walking, clearing his throat as he did. "There are...events that will unfold from here on out."

"What kind of events?" Goofy asked.

"You'll know when we're done here."

"All of this sounds awful fishy to me!" Donald exclaimed. Ever since he had met Terra, it had been nothing but secrets and silence from the knight. Even Mickey, a supposed friend of the knight, wasn't privy to all that Terra knew.

Suddenly, Terra stopped and lowered his head slightly. "Donald," he began in a low, slow and calm voice, "What would you say if I told you that everything that you have been through since you met Sora, every event and everyone you met has been manipulated and orchestrated by a shadowy, unseen being? That this manipulation from the shadows has been going on for nearly a decade?"

Suffice to say, the three members of Disney were shocked into silence by Terra's speech. Was he joking as he always did? Or was he honestly being serious? Before an answer could come up, Terra cracked a wry smile and said, "I thought so." He then began to walk again.

Donald, Goofy and Mickey looked to one another, unsure of what to think, before following the knight deeper into the red gloom of Pandemonium.

**KHKHKHKH**

With a flash of silver and a great crash, Kaiser was forced backwards, skittering across the cobblestones on his claws.

For twenty-minutes, a battle waged between the Keybladers and the Immortals, with the Keybladers holding the upper-hand. Kaiser, Aeron and Josef were all bloody in one way or another from encounters with their foes, while the remaining fiends were all banged up in some way or another. Although, the Keybladers weren't in perfect condition, they were much better off then their opponents.

"This is ridiculous!" Kaiser snarled, his tongue flicking upwards, catching the blood from his lips. "How could they have gotten so much stronger in such a short amount of time?"

"Do you think we may have to bring out...it?" Aeron asked tentatively. His left gauntlet had been shattered by Auron's sword and blood trickled down it.

"Are you kidding?" Kaiser snapped back. "We're gonna be in enough trouble as is, if Cassius found out we used the weapons or armours, he'd slaughter each and everyone of us!"

"Aww," Claudio taunted. "Is wittle old Kaiser afraid of Cassius getting mad?" The savage glint that was constant in Kaiser's gaze flashed once more.

"Shut it you freak!" A hard look overtook Claudio. Kaiser continued. "I'm not afraid of Cassius! I'm not afraid of you! I'm not afraid of anyone! I am fear itself!" Suddenly, Kaiser entered a horse-rider stance, his muscles and tendons all became taut and shockingly visible and his eyes transformed into even more wild, savage slits.

"Oh, I hate when enemies do this crap." Claudio mumbled regrettably.

Kaiser bared his fangs, and, like his eyes, they had become more feral, in addition to grow in size. Breathing heavily, the feral Immortal let out a roar, but it went beyond the roar of any animal. It caused a massive shockwave, trying its hardest to force the Keybladers back.

"What's going on?" Roxas shouted over the deafening sound blast.

An aura began to form around Kaiser, as even his own allies were moving away from the increasing berserking Kaiser.

"Strike him down now!" Auron suggested, forcing himself steady against the supernatural roar. "Better we do it while he's charging, than face whatever he's planning."

Sora nodded and dashed forward, weaving side-to-side, using his Quick Run. The speed of the ability allowed Sora to bypass the roar and get within striking distance of Kaiser.

He readied his Keyblade for an attack, charging forward for the strike. Kaiser noticed this and, quit roaring; standing his ground instead, claws and teeth bared.

But neither warrior collided with one-another. A bolt of energy shot down from the sky, hitting the ground between Sora and Kaiser. Kaiser's concentration broke, the aura and the feral instincts vanishing, while Sora was forced back by the shocking occurrence of the blast.

The group looked to where the shot was fired to see another Immortal, this one wearing a white Organization cloak and holding a futuristic rifle.

"Another one?" Ed exclaimed.

"Tallgeese!" Kaiser cried in anger. "What are you doing here?"

"Stopping you from making fools of yourselves." Tallgeese replied coolly.

"Fools?" Kaiser barked. His voice retained a feral edge to it. "We were going to finish the Keyblade Masters off once and for all!"

Tallgeese chuckled slightly at that. "Finish them off? Kaiser, at your current state, you would never be able to touch them. You need full access to your powers for that."

"You bastard!" Kaiser roared. "Don't stand in the way of my prey! I am-"

"The predator." Tallgeese finished with a wry tone. "We've all heard that speech more times than we care to count."

"He's right, you worthless idiot." Another voice sounded. This one was familiar. In a second, Kira had appeared next to Tallgeese.

But that was not all. Two more dark shrouds appeared by the clock tower and two more Immortals appeared. The first was the one Riku and the Elrics encountered on Agrabah, Arianne. The second was the other Immortal who dressed himself in the Organization cloak.

"One...two...eleven..." Riku breathed. "This is not good."

"Understatement of the year, Riku." Arianne said.

"Fortunately, for you all, we are not here for a fight." Tallgeese This was a shock to all in attendance.

"What?" Aeron yelled. "What kind of crap is that! Then what are you all doing here?"

Starxys gulped. "I think I know why."

"We're not here to punish you, you simpering jackanape." Kira said harshly.

The other Immortal in the cloak then began to spoke. "We are here, because while you seven were planning this suicide mission, Tallgeese was doing what he was supposed to be doing."

"Which was...?" Ed asked, curious. To say the least, the rest of the group felt a little left out as the Immortal's soap-opera played out before them.

The Immortal ignored Ed's interruption "Researching your friends Rain and Claudio." A smirk appeared behind the shade of the hood.

Shocked looks flashed on Rain and Claudio's faces. Had they figured it out?

"Cassius!" Claudio blurted out without thinking. Everyone shot him a look.

"How do you know his name?" Kairi asked. A look of realization appeared on Claudio's face. What had he just done?

"That's right." Cassius (apparently) replied. "I'm so glad you remember me after all these years, Claudio. So, do you want me to tell your friends, or shall I let you explain?"

No one replied. Rain had a fearful look on her face, clutching her heart in desperation as she began to hyperventilate. Claudio himself had a stony face with blazing eyes aimed hatefully at Cassius. Everyone else (even some of the Immortals) had their faces changed into ones of dark anticipation.

After a minute of silence, Cassius chuckled softly. "I suppose I will start." He said. "Sora." He looked to the Keyblader. "Kairi." He looked at her too. "Let me tell you something, if you go to all the worlds that these two have live on – Radiant Garden, Twilight Town, Traverse Town – you will find no information about these two. No birth certificates, I.D. Cards, passports, no information on them except testimony from people who will tell you that they just "showed up one day". Where do you think they come from?"

"What are you getting at?" Kairi asked impatiently.

Cassius didn't respond, instead it was Tallgeese to speak. "I also have a question to ask. Do you know how an Immortal is created? Or how about what makes an Immortal, immortal?" He gave them no time to answer. "Well, an Immortal is created when a Heartless and a Nobody are unnaturally merged together. Usually this is caused by a massive energy surge, such as the one released from a world being destroyed. All current Immortals, except for Starxys and Creed were created when a Heartless and a Nobody were on a collapsing world and were fused together.

"Now, as to why an Immortal is immortal. Although we can die of wounds and natural causes, we can circumvent the latter by one simple act: Devouring hearts."

"Eating hearts?" Namine repeated, a sickness lacing her tone. Certain Immortals gave wicked grins in response. "That's absolutely sick!"

Riku agreed. "You really are the scum of the universe!"

"Scum?" Tallgeese scoffed. "Hardly. We are the greatest beings in the universe. Nobodies. Heartless. Humans. They all pale in our presence! We go beyond even evolution! We our beings that defy even the designs of the Gods themselves!"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up you arrogant, miserable bastard!"

Claudio had had enough, listening to the self-righteous ramblings of Tallgeese put him over the edge. "All of you Immortals and your arrogant attitude is pissing me off! Shut your mouths now you messed-up, high-and-mighty freaks!"

This only made Tallgeese chuckle again. "Who's high-and-mighty? My, my, these are much different sentiments than what you were saying thirty-years ago."

Claudio bristled and everyone took notice. "Claudio, what is this guy talking about?" Sora questioned, with a more stern tone than usual. Claudio looked away.

"Now, before we were interrupted," Cassius broke in. "I believe I was going to impart some wisdom on these fools below us. We've already established that you don't know any information of Claudio or Rain, that you can't tell us anything about them. But I can.

"You see, 61 years ago, two armies were battling on a far-off, barren world. But, unbeknownst to the soldiers, as they were fighting, a group of Heartless landed on the world. They jumped the armies and then searched out the world's heart, destroying the world. But, moments before the world ended, a certain soldier was split into a Heartless and Nobody and then energies of the demolished world fused them together. This created the second Immortal, after me of course.

"Immediately I sensed this Immortal and found him, taking him under my wing as an apprentice. Over the next 31 years, we slowly gathered a few more Immortals and began to formulate our ultimate goal. But then, one day, the man I considered my successor left. Ran away from his brethren with another Immortal. A woman. It is true when they say they things that we love are the things that destroy us. But, anyways, for 30 years, those two Immortals have been running, always away from my grasp. That is, until right now."

An eerie silence fell again on the group, as Cassius's story slowly sunk in. Realizations popped into certain heads, but were quickly dismissed. But, although they were dismissed, they could not be denied entirely. The Keybladers looked slowly to Rain, who was avoiding all gazes, and Claudio, who had his eyes fixed only on Cassius. Could it be? Was it true? What was Cassius saying?

"Wh-what do you mean?" Kairi asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

The realization also hit the rest of the Immortals, as Kaiser was roaring again, but this time with laughter. "Oh, this is rich, this is freaking rich!" He howled, joined by the laughter and chuckles of a few others. "Are you kidding Cassius?"

"No, Kaiser. You have the truth." Cassius replied, his invisible grin wider than ever. "And, to answer your question Kairi, the two lost Immortals I was speaking of, are right next to you."

"Cassius!" Claudio shouted.

"No..." Kairi gasped. "It can't be! It just can't!"

"It is. Claudio and Rain, you're trusted friends and bodyguards, are Immortals."

It was as if a bomb had been dropped upon the group. Nothing could be heard. Nothing was said. Even the Immortals had stopped chortling.

Kairi tentatively stepped towards Claudio. "Claudio?" She began, but she didn't have to finish. She could tell it was true on the faces of Rain and Claudio. Everyone could. The two had downcast, sad, downright miserable looks on their faces, pointed downward to avoid eye contact with anyone else.

"You bastards!" Riku snarled, stepping pass Kairi and getting in Claudio's face. "How could you? You lied to us all!"

"We never lied," Claudio defended weakly. "We only withheld information. You never asked us if we were Immortals."

Riku ignored the counter and continued. "We trusted you and you deceive us like this! How? HOW?"

"You don't understand..." Rain began, drowned out by her own quietness.

"What I understand is that you betrayed us, lied to us, withheld information that could have made the difference between life and death!" Riku charged forward, forcing the husband and wife to back off at the rage of the silver-haired boy. "Do you understand that you put all of us in danger because of this! I thought you were suppose to protect people! I thought we were friends..."

Claudio tried to defend himself and Rain, but all he could manage was a weak, "We are..."

"Friends don't do this!" Sora came. From the look of it, only Sora and Riku were truly angry at Claudio and Rain while the others just shot them angry or sullen gazes. "What would have happened if we needed info on the Immortals and you were too afraid of revealing your secret, and it cost us our lives? Huh? Tell me! Why did you do this!"

"Because we knew this would happen."

Both Rain and Claudio finally returned the hateful gazes of the two teens with wounded eyes. Even the way they stood suggested that they were wounded somehow. And they had been. Claudio raised his head and continued onward.

"For the first time in a decade, we felt like we belonged. Like we had purpose in our foul lives. We just couldn't let you guys find out...because, this would happen." Only hateful looks responded to his plea. "You have to understand! Please, you just have to..." He sunk to his knees and shut his eyes. Rain fell to her knees too and placed a hand on her husband's shoulder.

"We don't deserve to ask for forgiveness," Rain muttered numbly. "But, I ask you, Sora, to look around. Riku was once your mortal enemy. Namine nearly destroyed your heart. Roxas was once apart of the Organization. Please, grant us what you granted them..." Rain trailed off before her head fell too.

Sora turned away, a disgusted look on his face.

Riku gave them one last look before walking away slowly.

Roxas and Ed both hanged their heads, as if in shame. Al's emotionless helmet gave no sign of his thoughts.

Auron looked indifferent and aloof throughout.

Kairi and Namine both looked lost, dimly staring into space.

And permeating throughout, was the booming laugh of Tallgeese. He alone was laughing at the predicament and plight of the Keybladers. Claudio turned, the defeated look turned into one of anger and malice.

"Why?" Claudio spat. "Why did you do this!"

Tallgeese laughed again, harder now, as if it was a joke. "Simple. It was because you fools were rising above your stations, meandering about with the Keyblade Masters like so sort of hero." He scoffed. "It was sickening. Like a pair of dogs eating off their master's table instead of being thankful for the scraps they're given."

Claudio gnashed his teeth in insult. "Dogs? Dogs?" Both he and Rain took a defiant stance, the sorrow in their eyes replaced by a fierce, burning anger. A light aura began to shine about them. Both then shut their eyes, as if to calm themselves and meditate.

"It's okay that we no longer have lives with these people, Tallgeese," Claudio said calmly. "Because, all of you will now die, even if we do too!"

Both the newly outed Immortals opened their eyes. They were now completely white, flashing with feral rage.

The aura's flared even more as Tallgeese shook slightly. "Sir!" He said to Cassius. "It seems that their power levels are rising at an exponential rate."

Cassius nodded slowly. "Yes. It seems that their declaration was true. They're using Infuse." He then gave a grand motion with his arms. "Immortals! Wipe those two infidels off the face of existence!"

With the exception of Tallgeese and Cassius himself, all the Immortals prepared for battle, summoning their weapons and taking their respective stances. They then all charged off their perch, screaming like demons out for blood.

Rain and Claudio were quick to answer, leaping into the sky with inhuman speed. Rosa and Starxys were the first two Immortals to make contact, armed with katana and guitar respectively.

The clash was instant. With a savage slash, Rain struck out with Scarlet Queen, severing Rosa's katana in twain and causing her blade to sink deep into her foe's breastplate and body. She pulled the blade out and then quickly hit a scissors kick, smashing her into the neck and sending the female Immortal plummeting to the ground.

Meanwhile, Claudio simply punched through the head of Starxys's energized guitar, turning the instrument into metallic shards and causing the rocker to double over in tremendous pain. Claudio then seized Starxys by the shirt and hurled him into the clock tower building, before firing a blast of energy, which demolished the section of the wall Starxys landed into.

Next came Josef, Vaniele and Ramziel. The three Immortals darted out from the night, swinging blades and firing streams of bullets. With their new, seemingly enraged and savage strength, Claudio and Rain dashed about the sky, avoiding the attacks with superb skill. As the Trinity Siblings continued their attacks from the left and right, Claudio and Rain spotted Ramziel diving from the sky, twirling his scythe. Rain fell towards the ground and Claudio charged the Immortal.

As Ramziel swung the blade to Claudio, he deftly caught the pole arm's haft. Stunned, all Ramziel could do was watch as Claudio yanked the scythe towards him, bringing Ramziel with it, and kneeing the Immortal in the gut. He then channeled a current of lightning through the metallic weapon, shocking his enemy and scorching his clothing before tossing the incapacitated foe aside.

As soon as Rain hit the ground, she sidestepped to the left before launching herself into the air again, this time hitting a missile sidekick into the ribs of Josef, sending the bewildered Immortal diagonally in the sky and crashing into his sister. Rain then teleported to the other side of the crushed Immortal twins, before hitting the Buster punch into the two, causing them to crash into the ground. She then hit several more Buster shots, crushing them into a large crater, leaving them twitching and broken.

Repeated fireballs then blasted towards Rain, before Kaiser flew by with a spiraling claw swipe. She caught Kaiser landing on the ground and saw Arianne near him, shooting elemental bursts from her gunblades.

Aeron and Claudio were striking swords against one another, drawing sparks with each successive swing. Despite the increase in Claudio's strength, the two were evenly matched. Holding each other at a lock, Claudio decided to take advantage, and revved the blade repeatedly. He then unleashed a point-blank Hell's Butterfly, driving Aeron back twenty-feet. Aeron sneered again, as Claudio came barreling forward, he readied himself for a thrust to impale the charging warrior but before he could lunge, Claudio lept over the blade and over Aeron, landing behind the sword-wielding fiend. He then snatched Aeron's ponytail and propped him forward, using him as a human-shield as a large, wayward fireball of Arianne's roared towards the two. Aeron was forced to absorb the entirety of the blow before Claudio dumped him to the ground and curb stomped his face directly into the cobblestones.

Forgetting the down Aeron, Claudio charged again; this time, though, his foe was ready. Arianne crossed her gunblades and unleashed an x-shaped wave of compressed water. Claudio placed his sword between his body and the wave, letting the water explode and wash over him. The ex-Immortal then went spiraling into the air, revving High Streak again.

"Prism Chain Arts, Aerial Style: Grand Decapitating Air Wave!"

The air rippled and shimmered and Claudio unleashed a series of air pressure torrents, driving down like a heavy storm on Arianne. In a desperate attempt to block the empowered air blades, Arianne brought her blades up to guard but the shifting air slashes by-passed her defence and crashed into the ground below, tearing it up and sending Arianne to the side and landing in a great heap.

Preparing to finish his foe off, Claudio hefted his blade upwards, but was stopped when he heard a female scream. He turned around to see Kaiser digging his claws into Rain's shoulders, blood flying into the dark sky, her aura fading, as she screamed and Kaiser cackled. She slowly fell to the earth, landing hard, but Claudio quickly took her place, flying forward in a berserk rage. He and Kaiser began to exchange fierce blows between claws and sword, Claudio not caring if he took a few slashes from his enemy. This man had hurt his wife. He was pissed!

With a two-handed blow that had the force to sunder the earth itself, Claudio brought his blade downward on Kaiser, who had his arms up to defend himself. Although the sword could not sever or cut into the supernaturally enhanced arms, Claudio felt the massive vibrations traveling from the injured arms and into the sword. He had broken something.

Kaiser confirmed his thoughts with a pained cry. "RRRRAGH! Bastard! You broke my arms!"

Claudio gave a look of distaste before bending over and head-butting the feral Immortal in the gut. He followed the blow with an axe kick that caused the cat-like Immortal to plummet towards the ground. Claudio drew his pistol and then, with a pitiful look, fired wave after wave of slugs at the downed fiend.

Three or four hit until Kira appeared, using his shield to deflect the slugs before charging into the sky like a meteor, a dark aura streaking off the fallen Prince. Claudio countered by diving down, his own yellow aura extending from his body. The two raging combatants met and unleashed a wave of energy that rocked the entire pocket dimension.

When the blast subsided, everyone conscious being could see that Kira's sword and shield has gone flying away. Claudio backhanded his former liege to the ground and then charged him, swinging for the fences as Kira nimbly dodged the berserk onslaught. The red-headed Immortal shot a look at Tallgeese, the two nodded in unison and Kira vanished in a dark mist.

Claudio then took a moment to assess the damage. Rain and nearly every Immortal was down for the count, bodies strewn about the entire area that was once apart of Twilight Town. The ground was shattered and torn at various places from the constant fighting. Claudio's aura was a strong as ever, with no end in sight.

Then, his eyes – which were still all white – found Cassius, standing alone beneath the clock tower itself. Seeing his chance, he warped to the clock tower building, charging forth with great intent to mangle and kill his tormentor. Only a few feet away from Cassius, the leader of the Immortals turned about, facing Claudio as his blade came swinging towards him.

With no reaction on his invisible face, Cassius stepped backwards to avoid the blade. Though it seemed he meant to avoid the blow, Claudio corrected the swing at the last moment, leaning forward even more to maim Cassius. It wasn't enough, as the sword made contact, but only with his cloak, sheering off part of the cloak but barely touching the leader. Claudio then took his fighting stance for another attack, but Cassius just stood, completely calm with no intention to move.

Before he could question this, Claudio felt a searing bolt burn through his chest and he saw a green flash leave him and hit the roof he was standing on. His eyes returned to normal and the aura faded, as pain shot throughout Claudio's body, blood leaking from his heart and staining his coat and shirt. He tried to curse, but only a small gurgle and blood came out.

He then peered behind him to see Tallgeese. His hood was down, revealing a pale face wearing a white helmet. The visor of the helmet was a masquerade mask with opaque eye holes and a pointed nose-guard. Long, pale blonde hair came out from the back of the helmet. The masked Immortal was grinning fiendishly as he gripped his high-tech laser rifle.

"You forgot about me, Deuce..." Tallgeese said viciously. He then jammed down on the trigger again, unleashing a blitz of green lasers that tore through Claudio's stunned body. When Tallgeese found his rival's body riddled with enough holes, he stopped and admired the smoking, ruined form of his enemy.

High Streak fell from his grasp as Claudio sunk to his knees, blood pouring from his mouth in copious amounts. Light faded from his eyes as he fell from the roof of the clock tower building, hitting the ground in a bloody mess.

The wounds wouldn't heal, he knew that. He had used to much energy so now even his regeneration factor would shut down on him. Even if the wounds did cauterize from the heat, he had lost too much energy and the backlash from using Infuse would hit at any moment. But, on top of it all, he had lost the will to live. If he survived, what would be left for him? His friends had abandoned him and his wife would likely die too. It was over. Nothing would be left.

His time had come. He would have to pay for all his sins. And slowly, as his vision turned to darkness, he thought he could hear someone calling out his name. But that couldn't be true, after all, who would cry for him?

**KHKHKHKH**

"Terra? Terra?"

Terra shook his head to snap out of his deep thought. He had been staring into space when Mickey continued to call out his name. "I'm sorry, Mickey." Terra said, walking forward, "Something just...fell on my mind."

That "something" was about Claudio. Terra could feel him leaving this Realm. Everything was going as it was foretold. But he couldn't dwell on Claudio as of now, he and his group were almost at the end of Pandemonium, having left the red halls long ago and were approaching a large, white stone chamber.

The chamber was a small room designed to connect the two halves of the castle together. Completely flat at the front end, with a small step of shallow stairs rising in a circular pattern at the other end of the room. The stairs led to a large, carved marble door, white as the rest of the room. Terra and Donald both grunted, the complete whiteness of the room was hurting their eyes after the constant stretch of dank chambers before them.

As the knight and the three Disney denizens entered the chamber, Terra noticed the lack of a Keyhole on the door. Mickey must of noticed it too, as when he went to summon his Keyblade, he stopped in his tracks. Terra walked to the door and gave it a shove with his hand but the door wouldn't budge. It seemed too solid. Almost like a wall.

"Well, looks like we reached the end, fellas." Goofy said, taking the hints given to him from the King and Terra.

"No," Terra countered, "I think I can bust this door down given enough time."

"That won't work."

The four turned around to see a figure, dressed all in white, and slouched over. He had small, beady eyes, slicked back black hair and stubble on his face, which had a non-caring bored look on his face. It was clear that he was an Immortal.

The slacker continued. "The door can't be destroyed. And, it can only be opened by an Immortal. The only way for people like you to open it, is to use an alchemic trigger on the lowest basement."

Terra smiled. "I suppose you wouldn't open it if we asked you nicely?"

"No."

Donald whispered to Terra, "I thought you said that all the Immortals were gone from the castle."

"The rest are." The bored Immortal said. Apparently, he had over heard Donald. "But I wasn't about to waste energy on one of Tallgeese's dumb plans."

_There's still one here._ Terra repeated in his mind. _Damn! Why do all of these predictions keep going wrong. It's not suppose to be like this._

"Now, are you gonna piss off by yourselves, or do I actually have to fight today?"

The others slowly began to draw their weapons, but Terra held up a hand to stop them. "Guys, sit tight." He said. "I'll handle them myself. To be honest, I only think that the King could handle him." He tossed Donald and Goofy a look. "No offence you two." Before they could respond, Terra stepped forward to the Immortal. "You got a name?"

"Creed."

"I see. I'm Terra."

"Don't care."

Terra then assumed a fighting stance as a golden aura burned about him. In a flash, his left arm became encased with a unique gauntlet. His entire entire forearm was covered in a leather bracer with bronze armour decals flaring out from it; a series of bronze plates ran up his upper arm and connected the bracer to the gauntlet's pauldron. The piece of shoulder armour was gunmetal gray with a copper halo toward the peak, and, as it neared his collarbone, the armour became gold and curved away from his neck.

He then shot his right arm to his side, with the golden aura returning and pieces of what looked like materialized data began to revolve around his arm. Appearing with the data-like objects were a series of metallic rings. The spinning objects then vanished with a burst of light, transforming into the knight's summoned Keyblade.

The Keyblade was easiest the largest seen to date. It was at least six-feet, overtaking Leon's gunblade in size and just slightly smaller than Cloud's buster blade. The guard was rectangular and made of blue metal and the remainder of the great Keyblade was a singled shaft of gold or bronze metal. The key's head was a series of flat tabs that jutted from the main blade and a small crescent ornament topped the blade. Terra effortlessly swung the weapon with his one hand.

_The shining path of the stars_, a voice whispered in his mind. _Celestial Guide  
_

Creed smirked at the weapon. "Pretty fancy there."

Terra returned the smile and walked forward. "You see this hand?" He asked, raising his left fist.

"Yes," Creed frowned. "And I also know that you're about to sock me in the face with your right hand and say 'Should have been watching the other one'."

Terra chuckled before smashing into Creed's face with his _left_ fist! "Actually, I was gonna say 'You should have been watching it closer'." Terra corrected as Creed staggered back. "It pays to be original."

Creed wiped his mouth with a gloved hand. "Y'know? This might actually be worth the effort."

**KHKHKHKH**

Where Claudio was? He couldn't say. It may have been Hell. It could have been some sort of Purgatory. He could be in Limbo. He may no longer even be in the Realm of Light. But, wherever he may have been, he was alone.

Lying, alone, and caught within the infinite space of the crushing white void. He didn't know if this void was truly infinite, but he had no will to discover if this plane had some sort of end.

_So, this is my fate?_ Claudio thought. He had no will to speak. He was absolutely broken and defeated. _I can't say that I don't deserve this. I've done enough bad things in my life. I've killed countless people. Lied. Stolen. Cheated. I honestly thought I would end up in hell. But who's to say this isn't hell? Isolation for eternity is a fairly steep punishment._

Lying on the ground of the void, Claudio did nothing. He didn't even blink. No measurable amount of time passed as he was caught in the whiteness of his prison. Was time even a factor in this realm? He could have been in this catatonic state for hours or seconds before he noticed a change in the scenery.

He had become caught in darkness.

Still lying down, he looked to see a massive white door with stain-glass windows looming in front of him. Even though he was most-likely dead, he could still sense the great power emanating from the door. It was enough for him to slowly rise and stumble weakly to the great door.

Claudio had never seen Kingdom Hearts. He had never seen the Door to Darkness or any of the Doors that existed for travel in between the Realms. But, there was a feeling deep within him, shattered as he was, that this door before him was Kingdom Hearts...and if not, it was where he was suppose to go.

Slowly, he reached his hand out, barely touching the door when a voice rang out.

"It is not your time yet, child."

Floating behind him, on extravagantly designed thrones, were what Claudio could only assume were Gods. There were two of them, a man and a woman; the man had spoken to him. The man was sitting upon a large, shining gold throne and the woman next to him sat on a delicate silver throne that look as if it was woven from gossamer.

"Who...are you?" Claudio said weakly. His body had given out and he had fallen to his knees.

"I am Destin, God of All Things and King of the Ancient Pantheon." The man was outfitted in a grand set of armour. It made him look powerful, commanding and yet, at the same time, it was neither bulky nor over-large. The armour was silvery-white, streamlined to fit his body perfectly. Shining golden accessory armour rested upon the main white armour. Gauntlets and greaves, each with angelic wings extending out from the halfway point of the armour. A metallic kilt made with several separate fitted tabs wrapped around his waist and ring-like pauldrons wrapped around his shoulders. Decorated on the breastplate and the accessory armour, all wrought in gold, were depictions of great crusades and mythical beasts. Griffins, unicorns, dragons, valiant knights and scenes of triumphant victory. His helmet was also made of the same silvery-white armour, with a shining golden star planted on the face of the helmet. Surrounding the face were a series of three-inch-long spokes; three on the left, three on the right and one crowning him at the top of the helmet, giving the appearance of the sun. Finally, a cape of white and gold silk came off his shoulders and draped over the back of the throne.

"And I am Fate, Goddess of Light and Destiny and Queen of the Ancient Pantheon." Fate herself look powerful and beautiful at the same time. Her divine being radiated a supernatural beauty that no mortal woman could comprehend. Though not as heavily armoured as her husband, Fate still look strong. Her armour was a highly polished steely blue, unadorned with decoration, with golden rings surrounding certain points. Plain gauntlets, greaves and a breastplate adorned her beautiful body. Despite the armour, much of her skin around her legs and arms were still bare. She wore no helmet, letting her dark red hair spill out around her in an elegant, twisted ponytail. Her face, framed under a silver circlet, was a vision of serenity and grace, punctuated by a kind smile. A cape of royal purple fell over her throne and a half-skirt of the same colour extended from her hip.

Claudio was not a religious man by any extent of the term, but he knew who these two were. The Ancient Pantheon was still widely worshiped on the Radiant Garden, and had been for over four-centuries.

"Why am I here..." Claudio mumbled. He normally would be more graceful and tact to the two most powerful Gods in existence (at least, according to the Ancients), but, as of now, he didn't care about anything.

"-, you must know that we need you for the future." Destin said. His voice sounded as powerful as he looked. "But you need our wisdom. You need our grace."

Claudio just hanged his head. "I don't care. I don't deserve to go back."

Destin shook his head. "You must go back, -, you're destiny is a great one. You, and all the Keyblade Masters."

"I told you, I don't deserve to return to them." Claudio muttered. "Not after what I did. Besides, even if I did go back, they wouldn't except me."

"You underestimate the strength of your heart, and the bonds it has created, -." Fate chimed in, her voice elegant and lilting, soft and calm.

"My name isn't -." Claudio protested. "It's Claudio."

"You have just forgotten your name." Fate replied. "You're heart has been closed for too long."

"Because I'm and Immortal... a living sin bowing before the Gods. You created the humans and the animals. But not the Heartless, the Nobodies, the Fell Soul or the Immortals. I'm just a walking blasphemy."

"Be thankful we are more patient than some of the other Gods." Destin warned. "I can think of a few that would have smited you by now."

Fate tried a different approach. "-, let me ask you something. Years ago, what did you devote your life too? What was your purpose?"

"My purpose...my purpose was..." Claudio closed his eyes. It had been so long. "To defend the Princess Kairi with my life. To be her shield. Her sword. Her shadow. But above all, to be more than a bodyguard. I will be her companion." His eyes rose from the floor to face Fate and Destin. "And I do swear these sacred oaths, on my life, and on my name... -..."

A smile broke on his face. "My name... That's my name!" A half-laugh, half-cry came from his body as a sign of relief. "I...almost forgot about that...it had been so long."

Both the Gods smiled. "So, shall you return?" Destin asked.

Slowly, Claudio rose to his feet and faced the King and Queen of the Gods. The misery had been wiped from his face, replaced by his normal confidence and fire had returned to his face and eyes.

"I will. I have some...demons to take care of." As the Gods gave him a final smile, Claudio turned away as the white void faded away. Before the Limbo ceased to exist, Claudio turned back to Fate and Destin.

"Thank you."

**To Be Continued**

_So, there you go. It's not much, but I really do like it. After reading all my work over again, I can feel the zest of writing flow in me again! Also, my Creative Writing Class shouldn't hurt in helping me._

_Describing Tallgeese is hard to do, but if you go to my profile, I've changed the Avatar Picture, to one of Zechs from Gundam Wing. I modelled Tallgeese's design from him, and even named him after Zechs's Gundam. He is without a doubt my favourite Immortal, and hopefully, you will see why in the coming chapters._

_Also, I know that Claudio is getting a lot of writing time, and I am sort of neglecting Sora as the main character. The reasoning for this is that between the three games, Sora has been fleshed out enough, so I am trying to equally characterize the others, that I feel need to be heavily characterized. Sora will take the main stage again, but I need everyone to know who Claudio and Rain are, and to give you my versions of Kairi and Riku._

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	24. Catastrophe: Rolling Barrage ACT 3

_*Sigh* I'm depressed, I'm not gonna lie about it. I'm depressed about school. It sucks. And it sucks even more that everyone told me before going to school that I would love University. That really pisses me off. Right now, writing acts as a catharsis for all my anxiety and depression...and it still took me three months to write this! Oh well, better three than ten... So I don't know what I'm gonna do, I'm already tanking in school after one semester, I don't know if I can push through four years of this shit. Sorry for the language._

_Not making excuses, but I also had to rearrange parts of this story, shortly after this chapter was one based on _Something Wicked This Way Comes, _but I had to cut that out because it just seems like filler to me. So, like Davey Jones, I guess Mr. Dark just vanishes offscreen. Also, next chapter will finally be dialogue heavy. The story is slowly building to its high points (in my opinion) and I can't wait._

_I really hope to get another chapter up before the new year, but I make no promises. Also, once more, if you read this story, I want you to go read _The Annals of Darkness _by fellow Canadian _ShireFolk _as soon as you finish this chapter. And, again, please take five minutes out of your busy schedule and leave a review. I know I've kind of turned into a review whore here, but I love having feedback on my story._

_Thank you and enjoy._

Chapter 24: Rolling Barrage ACT 3

"Heal!"

Claudio awoke to a desperate cry and a wave of green light. He was crumpled on the ground, his body aching from the fall and the fight. He reaked of blood and he tasted iron or copper on his tongue. The good news though was that the majority of his wounds had been healed, so he wouldn't bleed out anytime soon.

Fighting the pain, he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Kairi desperately crying over his body. It was clear that she had been the caster of the Cure spell. Claudio felt a wave of relief that at least someone cared about him. Once again, fighting the pain, he got himself up and wiped away the tears from Kairi's eyes.

At the fatherly gesture, Kairi looked up, unaware that Claudio's gloved hand smeared blood over her face. Tears still welling in her eyes, Kairi dove forward and clung onto Claudio. The sudden hug surprised the bodyguard, but he soon returned the gesture, hugging the young girl back. He then looked over to see Rain, pale-faced and bloody, standing on wobbly knees, with Roxas and Namine helping support her. The two smiled at each other, before Claudio gently pushed Kairi away from him, tears still beading down the girl's face.

"Claudio..." She whispered fearfully.

"Dayne." He replied.

"What?" Kairi asked, confused by the cryptic response.

"It's my name." Claudio, or Dayne, rather, stood up, the pain ebbing away from him, before turning about and facing the Immortals. "My name...is Dayne. Dayne Rivera. Claudio was what I used when I was running, afraid to face my past. Deuce is what they called me when I was once scum of the universe, otherwise known as an Immortal. But Dayne...that is my name. It's apart of me. Apart of my heart. My soul. I had just....forgotten it...a long time ago."

"I don't care if you call yourself Mary, Queen of Scots!!! You should be dead!!!" Tallgeese raged, still on his perch. Dayne and Tallgeese exchanged looks, invisible sparks flying between the two. "Even if you could survive my attack, the backlash from Infuse should have liquified your organs! You," he pointed an accusatory finger at Dayne, "Should be deader than disco! How? HOW!?!"

"I don't know," Dayne said icily, a contrast to Tallgeese's fiery fury. "Call it a miracle. Call it divine intervention. Call it whatever you want, but I'm still here Tallgeese," Dayne then looked to his side and used an energy tendril to call High Streak to his hand. "And I'm here to finish you off!" He swung the blade around, pointing directly at Tallgeese.

"And he's not alone!"

Dayne turned to his side to see Kairi, Oathkeeper drawn, and raring to go. Beside her, Namine came up, along with Rain, who was still resting on Namine's shoulder. Roxas ran to Dayne's right side, both his weapons drawn. The others stood behind the assembled frontline, confident looks on their faces.

"What's this!" Tallgeese raged again. "How can you work with those two? They betrayed you all! You should be trying to kill them-"

"Stop right now, Tallgeese!" Kairi shouted. "As far as I care, they didn't betray us. They just did what they thought was best for themselves. I can't blame them! Hell, if I was in their situation, I would do the same thing!"

Both Dayne and Rain looked bewildered. "Kairi...you don't have to do this..." Rain breathed heavily, the bloodloss still affecting her.

"We do, Rain!" Namine responded fiercely. "From the beginning of my life, I was treated as a monster, and I am not going to start treating people that way!" She looked Rain in the eye and added, "You and I, as far as I am concerened, are the same."

Roxas was next. "She's right. I mean, I've done some pretty rotten things in my life, not as bad as you two probably...but still.... I mean, I nearly killed Riku! They all accepted me." He turned to the others behind him. "There is no reason we shouldn't accept you two!"

Riku walked in between Roxas and Dayne, a smile on his face. "I'm in the same boat as Roxas. My sins are black and far-reaching. If anyone knows about redemption and atonement, then it would be me."

A shocked look overtook Dayne. Of all the people, he expected Riku to be the most stubborn on this, after all, he had been the most suspicious of them initially.

"Don't look at me like that," Riku said, apparently sensing Dayne's thoughts. "You saved Kairi back at Beast's Castle.... After that, there was no doubt in my mind that you were a good person."

Dayne was dumbfounded. "But...before...you were-"

"I may be forgiving, but I still don't like being betrayed. You should have told us. A lot of us, as you can see, would have understood. I may have been angry at first, but after seeing you two nearly kill yourselves fighting the Immortals, I was sold."

"And, you aren't afraid of us after...that..."

Everyone went silent. While they could not say that the spectacle of their battle hadn't scared them, it truly didn't matter. Despite the fear, everyone watched in awe as Rain and Claudio demolished eight Immortals in quick succession. Maybe they were afraid, but the respect for them outweighed the fear, and their friendship outweighed it all.

"We may have been," Kairi said, truthfully. "But it doesn't matter."

"Thank you," Dayne smiled. Rain did too, despite the pain she was still in.

Next, Ed and Al walked up to the line, shortly followed by Auron. Again, Dayne looked shocked at the three's reaction.

"Don't get me wrong," Ed began, "You are an arrogant, loud-mouthed, opinionated bastard, but you all know what I have done... you didn't judge, didn't shun, you barely knew Al and I, and you still made us your friends."

Al agreed. "Brother's right. Just because you made a few mistakes in the past, doesn't mean we should hate you because of it. You have proven to be strong, selfless and kind people. To me, what you've done in the now counts more than anything."

"I don't fully know what is going on here," Auron said, "But I do know people. And you are a good person Dayne. I don't know your wife that well, but she must be a good person too."

Sora just stared at the scene from behind, a discomforting look on his face. Finally, the brown-haired boy swallowed his anger and wordlessly stepped to Roxas's right, drawing Oblivion.

Both Dayne and Rain were moved. Absolutely touched by the statements of their friends. Rain openly cried, while Dayne struggled to hide the tears of joy. Kairi smiled at the sight of the strong, proud warrior being moved to tears. Dayne smiled back.

"Thank you," He whispered to his collective friends, "Thank you everyone."

Rain nodded. "We're sorry for lying to you. Please, forgive us."

Namine chuckled slightly. "We already have."

Kairi then turned to the Immortals, her face transforming into her interpretation of Dayne's own fierce visage.

"You see Tallgeese! Cassius! You can't break us! We're united by a force greater than you can imagine! And together, we will defeat you all! Every. Last. One. Of. You!"

Tallgeese snorted at the bold statement. "A force greater than we can imagine?" The helmeted Immortal laughed, as if the young girl had told a joke. "Girl, there is no force greater than us. Soon, even the Gods will tremble in fear at our power!"

Kairi's eyes narrowed. "You know what Tallgeese? Ever since you showed up, all you've ever done is spout a bunch of pompous bullcrap! And the only thing you've down to back that talk up is attack Dayne from behind, like the coward you are!"

Tallgeese's mouth hardened. "That's it, girl, Kira may be angry, but I will put you in your place!" He turned to Cassius. "Sir! Permission to handle these fools."

"Granted." Cassius boomed. "You and Arianne will finish up. The rest of you, return to the castle."

Everyone Immortal, save Cassius, Arianne and Tallgeese vanished into wisps of darkness. Cassius turned, as if to leave, before pressing his hand underneath the slash Dayne had cut into his coat. When he pulled the hand back, the white glove he wore was tainted with red blood. He spared a final invisible stare at Dayne, before vanishing.

Arianne quickly summoned both her gunblades and Tallgeese quickly removed his cloak, revealing his body. Shockingly, he was more machine than he was man! His arms were sleek and metallic; his legs designed the same way but with angular armour added where a human's shins would be. His body was covered in an armoured chassis of bulky, angular armour, black and crimson. Bulky packs were attached to his hips, legs and shoulders and a set of larged, wedge-shaped wings were folded-up on his back. Electricity crackled around his metallic hands and, in an instant, the energy formed into a crimson tower shield and his laser rifle. He quickly unfolded his wings and placed the rifle on his back, before a slot on his hips popped open, ejecting a small silver tube. He snatched the tube from the air and pressed a switch, the tube shooting a ray of light from it, the light forming into a sabre-like bar of energy.

"Okay, folks," Riku said, "What's our battle plan?"

Rain spoke up. "I'm too badly injured to fight well enough." She then turned to Kairi. "Use me as Drive Material, it should level the playing field."

"Use me too!" Namine added quickly. "Go into Master Form and show these guys what a girl can do!"

Kairi nodded. Kairi focused on her clothing, channeling the magical energy woven into them, before her body burst into a storm of yellow light. Namine and Rain shut their eyes and turned into orbs of energy, flying into Kairi's body. When the light faded away, Kairi was standing in a battle pose, her clothes now bright yellow and decorated with crosses. Floating next to her left hand was Namine's Blooming Radiance.

Sora then turned to Auron. "Would you mind sitting out of this one Auron, so I can Drive?"

Auron shrugged. "Why not?"

Sora then turned to Dayne and coldly said. "Dayne?"

"No, I'll pass." He said, noting the boy's tone. "I still have one more trick up my sleeve."

Sora pulled out his Drive Medallion and focused on it, letting the energy ebb out into him. The boy was then engulfed in a blast of red energy, Auron vanishing with the burst, and Sora's clothes became red with a fleur-de-lis pattern on them. In his left hand, he wielded the Fenrir Keyblade.

Dayne then stepped forward, away from the others and shut his eyes once more. He knew that he would end up paying for this in the near future, but his desire to hurt Tallgeese overpowered all logic in his body. Slowly, black energy in the shape of lightning bolts and chains snaked up and down his body. The energy began to increase in fury, the energy lacing his body, covering his entire body in darkness, covering the silver-blue of his tattered jacket. The energy began to spiral even more before hitting a crescendo, spiking up and around Dayne in the form of a black and silver flame. With a earth-sundering yell, the flame pillar broke and dissipated, revealing a transformed Dayne.

Gone was the jacket, now only clad in his black pants and shirt, but with what could only be called metal flames, rising up around his arms and legs like frozen fire. His hair was now shock white, and longer, nearly touching the floor as it meshed into a single point. Low Cut and his gun-belt were gone and High Streak had transformed into a new sword. While look similar to High Streak, a larger, bulkier engine was added to the hilt, a ripcord dangling from it. The bladed-edge was also gone, replaced by a track of chain with strange metal bits extending from it like sharp teeth. High Streak was now Daemon Butterfly, a chainsword.

Opening his now totally white eyes, Dayne roared his battle-cry. "Hyper Chain Art: Limit Break!" He then pulled the ripcord on Daemon Butterfly, the engine sputtering to life, spewing out smoke and sending the bladed chain into overdrive, roaring and screeching like a metallic beast out for blood, the chain and edges replaced by a fast-moving blur.

The others called their weapons and took a fighting stance. "Alright!" Ed shouted for the group. "Let's do this!"

Charging forth, the Keybladers targetted their enemies. Arianne answered the charge with one of her own, but Tallgeese stood still. With his visor still trained on Dayne, Tallgeese brought the thruster jets on his back to life and lanced into the air, picking, obviously, Dayne as his target. Dayne jumped into the air, chopping downward and meeting Tallgeese's beam blade, the two weapons clashing with a rain of sparks falling on both foes.

The combatants broke away, Dayne landing and spinning about; Tallgeese gliding and circling around. Wasting no time, Dayne jumped again, driving Daemon Butterfly into Tallgeese's tower shield, although the monsterous blade only chipped the paint off. Using the blade as leverage, Dayne vaulted overhead of Tallgeese, ready for another strike. The mechanized man hurled his energy sword toward Dayne in anticipation to the next attack. Quickly changing his plan of attack, Dayne brought his weapon down, deflecting the beam blade to the side.

Tallgeese grinned wickedly, as he drew his rifle from his back. Firing a volley of preliminary shots, his thrusters kicked into overdrive to get him away from the ground. Dayne quickly batted away the lasers with an energized sword swing, looking around to see Tallgeese having re-positioned himself high above him, raining laser blasts downward. As before, Dayne swung his sword in wide arcs to deflect the salvos, getting a feel for the pattern, before countering with his own magical barrage of ice and flame. Smirking again, Tallgeese simply imposed his shield in front of the elemental blitz.

"I know what you're thinking, Dayne... Claudio... Deuce...whoever you are!" Tallgeese called from behind the tower shield. "You think that if you continue attacking, I'll be forced to defend while you think of a strategy."

"Maybe," Dayne grunted, silently cursing that Tallgeese was as intuitive as always.

Tallgeese chuckled. "Well, this armour has a little feature designed to counter that way of thinking." Suddenly, two large gattling cannons popped into place from behind the Immortal's back, situating themselves under the packs stored at his hips. "Burning Vulcan!"

The barrels began to spin and Dayne's unearthly eyes took notice. "Crap..." He muttered, dropping to ground level and running in an erratic pattern to avoid the coming attack. Sure enough, the two gattling cannons began to unleash a spray of bullets that tore into the earth below, licking at Dayne's heels wherever he ran.

Tallgeese laughed maniacally as his former comrade ran about madly. "Give it up, you fool! I know you don't have a defensive move to block this attack, save using your body as a shield. And even when I run out of ammo, I have ways to compensate!"

"Well, you forgot one important thing, scrap-pile!" Dayne replied. The black-clad man used his speed to warp directly behind Tallgeese, planting his blade into the ground. Tallgeese cursed before rotating around, his smoking barrels spinning again, ready for another rapid-fire volley. "And that is that I have a way of turning offensive-moves into defensive ones!" Daemon Butterfly began to shine white and blue, the temperature around Dayne dropping sharply. "Prism Chain Arts, Blizzaga Style: Flash Freeze!"

The Burning Vulcan attack started again, a steady stream of ammo gunning (pardon the pun) for Dayne. The energy stored in the chainsword burst outward in a fury of freezing energy, forming into a large, thick wall of shimmering ice. Staying behind his wall, Dayne watched as the bullets tried their damndest to break through the barrier.

Snarling, Tallgeese stopped firing, strafing to the right to get a better shot. He wasn't prepared for the next move, as Dayne charged up to and off of his ice shield, lunging at Tallgeese. The Immortal was taken by surprise and tried to bring out one of his weapons, but he wasn't quick enough. Dayne roared with fury, driving a fist into Tallgeese's helmet and sending the cyborg flying backwards through the window of a nearby building.

Dayne hovered in the air momentarily, admiring his handiwork, before having his concentration broken by a fireball narrowly hitting him in the head.

He turned over to see Roxas, Riku, Sora, Auron, Ed and Al all fighting Arianne, her gunblades flashing wildly, swinging in all directions as she span them about. Occasionally, the weapons flashed an odd colour, before firing salvos that they shouldn't have any right to fire. Fireballs, blasts of water, lightning bolts, wind scythes, ice crystals and rocky spires all shot out from the female Immortal's weapons, and all of them were dodged or avoided by the five boys.

Dayne must have been watching the battle too intently, because the next thing he knew, something driving into his back. He fell out of the sky and then tumbled along the ground, all the time feeling the weight of something on top of him. When he finished rolling, he was staring up at Tallgeese, the cyborg readying a beam sabre for a downward slash. Dayne tried to strike, to push off, to attack with Daemon Butterfly, but Tallgeese had pinned all his limbs, was using his thrusters to keep the duo on the ground, and the blade must have slipped from Dayne's hand during the aerial tackle.

A blast of light engulfed Dayne's view, mixing with the ruby light of Tallgeese's beam blade (which Dayne had his eyes been affixed on the entire time). When the light faded, Tallgeese had been sent flying to Dayne's right, struggling to get back to his feet. Dayne got up to see Kairi, aiming luminescent Keyblades at Tallgeese.

When Tallgeese made no move to stand, Kairi turned to Dayne and quipped with a grin, "Aren't you gonna tell me to stay out of your fight."

"Not today," Dayne said, tilting his neck side-to-side. "As loathed as I am to say this, the days where I can take on an Immortal one on one are long gone." He looked over to see Tallgeese getting back to his feet, mechanical wings moving in a mockery of flapping. "They've taken off the kiddy gloves."

"Then I suppose its time for this Princess to show her bodyguard a thing or two." The two nodded at one another and shift stances, Kairi lowered her Keyblades to her sides while Dayne yanked on his blade's ripcord again, the monstrosity he wielded screeched to life again.

Tallgeese began to chuckled to himself. The Immortal stood proudly once again, as if he hadn't just been trashed two times in a row. "I think not. Rather, its time for the Princess and her bodyguard to both die!" The packs on his shoulders, legs and hips, as well as a plate where his abs would be, opened up, revealing rows upon row of collapsed missiles.

"Foxhound Scud!"

The missiles shot out from the mechanical being's body, leaving a trail of smoke as they rocketed to their targets. Both Kairi and Dayne charged the artillery, taking measures to eliminate it along the way. Dayne swung Daemon Butterfly, creating energy streaks to explode the missiles at a safe range, while Kairi gracefully bounded around the storm of salvo; leaping overhead, ducking underneath, dashing side-to-side, and unleashing beams of light to destroy far off targets.

They both managed to avoid the attack unscathed, reaching their destination as Dayne charged Tallgeese, Daemon Butterfly meeting the beam blade once more. Kairi took the opportunity, sliding behind Tallgeese and springing up to strike his exposed back with Oathkeeper, while the telekinetically-held Blooming Radiance slashed away freely.

Tallgeese grunted as he bared an attack from both fronts, sparks raining in front of him, and twin Keyblades hammering into his armour on his backside. He could feel himself losing his footing from the front, as the physically stronger Dayne continued to impress that abomination of a sword against his own. He fell to one knee, and Dayne smiled, a wolf-sensing-the-kill kind of smile. With a swift boot into Tallgeese's chest, Dayne reared back for one final cut.

The cut never happened though, as Tallgeese to the small reprieve to warp away from the situation. Dayne and Kairi were taken by surprise, as both were preparing to attack the now absent opponent. Kairi hurled herself forward in the air while Dayne fell to his knees and pressed his back to the ground in order for the two to cancel their strikes.

The two regained their bearings and stood up, only to duck down again as a massive explosion rocked the vicinity and crystalline shards rained down around them. They looked over to see Arianne had moved away from the other combatants, like Tallgeese had from them. The eight active fighters all rejoined one another.

It didn't take long for the two Immortals to reappear, now hovering a good seventy-feet away from the group, hovering in the air. While neither one showed signs of physical damage, they both looked fairly haggered. It was clear that these two individuals, two of the Immortal's elite, thought they would have difficulty in fighting the Keybladers.

Never one to not taunt his enemies, Dayne spoke up. "I take it you had enough Tallgeese!" When he got no response, Dayne followed up with. "You know, I think Kairi was right. You are just a big coward!"

Tallgeese scowled, his only visible human part showing his true emotions. "Arianne!" He barked. "Let's finish these fools off. Make an example out of them, whether we get their hearts or not, the worlds need to know our true power."

Arianne shook her head and held a hand up to her forehead, reminding Roxas of a certain female Organization member. "Honestly. You let your pride and vanity get in your way too much Tallgeese."

Tallgeese wasn't pleased by the comment. "I didn't ask for cander, I asked for brutal execution!"

Arianne dropped her hand and sighed. "People like him are why there is nothing worth living for." Arianne took a stance, lifting her right gunblade above her head, and holding the left one out to her left side, forming an inverted right angle.

"Get ready," Riku muttered; an unnecessary comment as the magic-users were already preparing to use their shields.

Tallgeese laughed aloud again, booming like one of his guns. "It doesn't matter what defences you prepare, this attack can shatter castle walls in seconds!" Tallgeese's armour began to shift, the gattling guns unfolding, the missile packs opening, even his chest plate opened to reveal a pair of compact gattling barrels. He then summoned two of his energy rifles.

Arianne's blades began to shine and she then slashed the air with them, beforing circling around and holding both her blades in front of her like they were actual pistols.

"Revolver Storm!"

Bursts of water, ice, and lightning shot out from the gunblades, but they didn't fire straight at the Keybladers. They instead were augmented by shots of wings also coming from her weapons, turning all the bursts into a massive tornado of ice spikes, electrical bolts, and water needles.

Tallgeese then stepped in, his gattling barrels already spinning. With a dramatic gesture, he called out, "Market Garden Carpet Bombing!"

Lasers, bullets and missiles all fired out from Tallgeese's body, joining with Arianne's elemental tornado and creating a funnel of death and destruction, tearing at the the ground and buildings, and threatening to do likewise to Sora and company.

"Reflega!" Sora casted.

"Protectga!" Roxas cried.

Kairi clashed the hilt of her Keyblades together and said, "Light Screen!"

Riku slashed Way to the Dawn through the air and shouted, "Sun Shield!"

A honeycomb dome, a wall of blue energy, a barrier of shimmering light and a large golden shield all erected themselves in front of the seven. The funnel smashed into the magical guards, the Keybladers struggling to keep them up. Ice, lightning, wind, water, bullets, missiles and lasers all crashed into the makeshift barrier, which was wavering with every hit (which was about fifteen hits per second). Riku began to tremble as the strain of keeping up the Sun Shield was beginning to set in. He fell to on knee, as the golden disk began to crack, piece by piece. The others weren't doing much better, and the combo attack didn't seem like it would let up anytime soon.

"We can't just turtle here forever!" Dayne shouted over the roar of the Immortal's attacks.

"Any attack we launch will be crushed by that massive maelstrom!" Auron countered.

"Not necessarily!" Ed said. "If we can use a whirlwind moving at the same rotational speed, but in the opposite direction, we can negate theirs."

"Whirlwind..." Kairi muttered. "People, I have an idea," she said to her fellow shield bearers. "When I give the signal, everyone drop the shields. Then, Sora and Roxas, you two use that move you've been practicing, but do it like Ed said. I'll do the rest."

"I have no clue what you're planning." Dayne replied. "But I take it we only have one shot at this or we're done, right?"

Kairi looked back for a moment and said, "Have a little faith in me," She then added with a sparkle in her eyes, "I did in you."

Kairi turned back around, focusing hard on her Light Screen, but then felt something clap down on her shoulder. Dayne had placed his hand there, and then gave a nod at his Princess.

"Okay...on my signal." Kairi said in her most commanding voice. The shield summoners had all broken out in sweats. "Ready..." The Sun Shield was reduce to a circle of fissures and rents.

"Drop! Now!"

The four shields instantly vanished as the hurricane of destruction began to careen towards them. Everyone began to move back, but Sora and Roxas moved a little less, staying towards the front and slashing their Keyblades at the hurricane.

"Aeroga Blade!" The two shouted, and wisps of wind began to spiral off their Keyblades, uniting together into a second hurricane, the two opposing winds meeting one another mid-air. The Immortal's moved counter-clockwise, while Sora and Roxas's moved clockwise. Both were matching each other in rotational speed. And, like Ed had explained, the two wind-masses cancelled one another out.

Everyone gave a silent, pre-emptive cheer, but they then noticed something. Both Tallgeese and Arianne were still firing, which meant a new hurricane would be on there hands in a few seconds.

But, Kairi proved that she had a plan. The girl ran forth, grasping her Summoning Charm. She stood defiant in front of the coming storm, before tossing the silver token into the air and then stabbed it with Oathkeeper.

"Light! Amaterasu!"

The Charm turned into a ray of light that burst forth and transformed into a scroll of papyrus and a paint brush. The papyrus unfurled on its own, and a ghostly hand snatched the paint brush and began to make precise strokes on the papyrus, the ink taking form before the brush and papyrus burst in another flash of light, the ink painting taking form into a white she-wolf with red markings on her fur, cloud-like shoulder designs, and bearing a shield and sword on her back.

The wolf, Amaterasu, stalked over to Kairi, who offered her hand as if she were a normal dog. Amaterasu sniffed the hand, looked at her summoner, and then nodded in silent respect.

The white wolf then leaped into the air, drawing her sword with her mouth. The blade instantly transformed into a large paint brush, the Celestial Brush. Using it, Amaterasu started to slash and then unleash energy waves that cut towards Tallgeese and Arianne, the blades deflecting their projectiles and then impacting the two, sending them flying higher into the air.

Kairi leapt onto Amaterasu's shield, before bounding off it, flying towards Arianne, slashing her with their two blades. The wolf then warped to Tallgeese's location, as the two unleashed a flurry of slashes that knocked the Immortals around some more.

Tallgeese managed to block one of the slashes, and then used his thrusters to gain air, firing lasers to interrupt the combo attack. Arianne followed suite, firing blasts of fire to complement the laser beams.

Using the Celestial Brush, Amaterasu drew circles in the air, which transformed into small bombs. Kairi jumped forward and then knocked them into the air, the bombs careening into the two foes, before blowing up and engulfing them in the fiery blasts. Following the bursts, the cyborg and elemental warrior fell to the ground, struggling to stand once more.

Kairi looked at the two damaged warriors, and then to her summon. "Let's finish this, Amaterasu!" The wolf barked in agreement. Kairi stood atop the shield on Amaterasu's back, as the wolf flew into the sky. Amaterasu drew the Celestial Brush, while Kairi combined her Keyblades into a facsimile of the magic object.

The area directly in the line of sight of Kairi and Amaterasu suddenly transformed into a still image painted on papyrus. Kairi and Amaterasu began to slash their brushes up and down, drawing ink lines all over the paper, mostly drawn over the drawn representations of Tallgeese and Arianne.

The papyrus slowly began to dissolve as reality returned to normal and Kairi and Amaterasu fell back. When the papyrus vanished, Tallgeese and Arianne began to be hit by an invisible force, being jerked around as if they were hit by an invisible blade. The invisible slashes were striking the two Immortals at the same angles as the paint strokes Kairi and Amaterasu made!

"It's a work of art!" Kairi quipped as the final strokes took effect, one knocking Arianne to the ground, the other blasting Tallgeese sky high. Kairi then began to gather light energy around Oathkeeper and Amaterasu did the same to her own body. "Now, feel the power of the sun!"

Kairi swung Oathkeeper and Amaterasu howled as the two unleashed a blast of light energy at their enemies. The bursts sent Tallgeese flying even further and continued to drive Arianne into the ground.

Before the light blasts dissipated, Amaterasu nodded towards Kairi before vanishing into a speck of light.

"Kairi!" Sora called from behind. "You were amazing!" She felt him hug her from behind. The others were surrounding her, praising her for the spectacular battle she put up.

Kairi tried to speak up, but suddenly felt a wave of weakness over take her. The Master Form faded away and both Rain and Namine appeared next to Kairi, all three girls weakened by the ordeal.

"Wooh..." Namine shook her head, "That was pretty intense." She then nudged Kairi in the ribs. "Only you would be crazy enough to try a summon in Drive Form." Namine then closed her eyes and faded back into her spectral form, returning to Kairi's body to rest.

Tallgeese, his armour cracked and sparking from the assault, was struggling to keep hovering in the air. "Erg..." he grunted, hating the acknowledgement of the pain he was feeling, "Beaten by a teenage girl and a Japanese ink painting.... This is a new low. How could we be further embarrassed?" As he tried to collect himself, physically and mentally, he instantly stiffened as he felt a presence behind him. Dayne had taken the opportunity to warp behind his nemesis.

"I don't know Tallgeese," Dayne quipped with a vicious snarl. The ex-Immortal cracked his knuckles and turned his snarl into an equally vicious grin. "How 'bout I give that a whirl?" Energy began to build around his body again, turning into a fiery aura.

"Prism Chain Arts, Firaga Style: Flame Purge!"

The aura transformed into a cape of blue flames, washing over Dayne. He then charged to the still-floating Tallgeese, bashing his helmet with a, quite literally, burning right hand. He followed up the initial attack with various fiery strikes. Elbows, kicks, knees, lariats, punches, even a headbutt. The cyborg was continually pushed through the air, reeling from an onslaught that would have KO'd any professional boxer by now. Dayne finished the combo with a leaping, aerial roundhouse kick, striking Tallgeese in the temple and then sending him crashing to the surface below, landing near Arianne's crater.

Dayne's burning aura began to rise again, changing its form into a shadow of crackling lightning. "Prism Chain Arts, Thundaga Style: Dragon Lightning Cannon!"

He clapped both his hands together in a fist, drew them close to his chest and then thrusted them out at the prone Tallgeese and Arianne, the two partially obscured by a dust cloud. A serpentine dragon was launched from his hands, giving a roar that sounded like booming thunder. The dragon spiraled through the air before lunging at its target, crashing deep into the ground and sending up more shrapnel and dust.

As the plume of debris slowly began to settle about, Dayne himself fell to the ground, his aura flickering out and his Limit Break form receding. The regular Dayne was back, his body still battered, looking extremely haggard from the battle. He quickly fell to his knees as the others gathered around him, their attention cut in half between the weakened Dayne and the fate of the Immortals.

When the dust did finally settle, it revealed a burnt stone wall being held up by Arianne, the wall crumbled, revealing the heavily damaged Immortals. Part of Arianne's skirt was torn and burnt, her hair ragged and blood trickling down her lip and right arm. Tallgeese was even worse off, his armour cracked and chipping; one of his wings was completely severed, a spire of stone had been spiked into his chest plate, and both of the visors were beginning to break, with small fissures spreading about the entire helmet.

The two stood up in the crate their falls had created and glared at the Keyblade party. Arianne was the first to speak, wiping away the blood on her lip. "It looks like there is still something worth living in this world...I hope we meet again Keyblader Masters..." Arianne then blurred away from this plane.

Tallgeese's gaze was fixes solely on Dayne. "Dayne...these indignations I suffered today will not stand! Mark my words, when you look at me, you are looking at your own death." He the gestured to the others. "All of you fools will suffer our wrath... the wrath of the gods." Tallgeese then vanished like Arianne before him.

"I wouldn't count on it Tallgeese!" Sora said defiantly. "Better foes than you have tried before, and failed just like you will!"

Kairi nodded and pumped her fist. "You'll never defeat us again! So long as we stand united, victory is ours!"

As their victory calls rang through empty space, the dark skies of the alternate dimension created by the Immortals began to break away. Soon, the group was back in Twilight Town, all the damage done to the scenery in the battle vanished, as if the square had never been witness to the brawl.

Riku let out a pent up sigh and then fell down on his but. "Jeez, what a day!" He ran his fingers through his hair. "I need a vacation."

"Well, we are on summer break." Sora pointed out.

"Yeah, well then I need a real vacation!" Riku fired back. The group smiled together, the joy coming easy after the trials they just went through.

Auron grunted and shifted his shoulders. "I must admit Sora, whenever you're around, things are always exciting." The ronin then slowly began to walk away from the others.

"Wait, Auron!" Dayne cried weakly, "aren't you gonna stay?"

"This is your story, not mine." And with that, the departed warrior quietly walked away into the sunset.

After the silence, Ed let out a huff of air and then said, "Well, I guess we should all get going on our own ways. I know we had a destination programmed in before we crashed here."

"I think we deserved a little break." Roxas chimed in. The blonde then held up a finger and added, "Speaking of which..." He then faded to his transparent spectre form and fell back into Sora's body, like Namine had earlier.

"I agree," Sora said. He then looked over to Dayne and Rain, a grudging look overtaking his features, but he still noted their battered bodies. "But first we should get fixed up. Maybe a change of clothes, a shower..."

Everyone nodded in agreement and began to leave the square, except for Dayne. The warrior took one last look at Twilight Town's sun the; sun that, during daytime, always looked like it was either setting or rising. People would argue what the sun was truly doing; the old saying in Twilight Town was "an optimist would say the sun is rising." Dayne never gave the sun on this world much thought, but today, after what had happened, he fell into the camp that the sun was rising. And it warmed his heart to know that, like a regular rising sun signaled the coming of a new day, this rising sun signaled the coming a new era in Dayne's life.

**To Be Continued**

_Not much to say here for closing notes. Just hope you enjoyed reading this and I would love to here some feedback. What's going on with Sora? Do you think Dayne is Gary-Stu? Who do you love? Who do you hate? Tell me and I'll be glad to help out and answer any questions you have._

Journal Set #10

Tallgeese 

The Fifth-Ranked Immortal, Tallgeese is part machine, part organic, one of his abilities being able to assimilate technology into his body. He is extremely arrogant, proclaiming the Immortals to be "Gods". He also seems to have an ongoing rivalry with Dayne/Claudio, leading to a psychotic desire to end his life. He arrived on Twilight Town, revealing Dayne and Rain's secret, along with Cassius. He the engaged us in battle, but was defeated by Kairi, Dayne and Amaterasu. Tallgeese is able to equip various cybernetic armours to his body, each one equipped with various mechanical and futuristic weapons

Arianne

The Sixth-Ranked Immortal, a quiet and reserved woman that shares an almost equal level of apathy with Creed. She proclaims that there is nothing in the worlds "worth living for" and shows an unconcerned attitude when fighting our heroes. She first met Riku on Agrabah and later fought the whole group, along with Tallgeese, on Twilight Town, but was soon defeated. Arianne wields two gunblades in battle and can manipulate many elements including fire, water, earth, lightning, wind and many more.

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	25. The Tale

_Okay, so this isn't the greatest, longest chapter I have ever written, but it is a change of pace from what I've normally been doing. It only focuses on one section of the story, and is entirely dialogue. This was necessary as I felt the need to explain the long history of Dayne and Rain. Originally, this chapter revealed that Dayne and Rain had a son and many more little tidbits of their life, but I didn't think it was entirely necessary after looking at the whole back story._

_  
Also, like many people, I have noticed it is winter. Last year, the area I live in (the Lower Mainland of British Columbia) got dumped on by a snowstorm. It was the most snow I have ever seen in my entire life. From November until February, the ground was white. We have been lucky so far not to get anything that bad so far, but it is cold as all hell over hear. There are some ponds on my school grounds, and it is so cold that they have frozen over entirely. You can play ice hockey on them for god sakes – and people indeed are playing ice hockey on them! Now, I know I have no write to complain about the cold, as it is colder in other parts of Canada, and I am not. But ice hockey on a pond, that's pretty damn cold for the west coast!_

_Finally, I'm thinking of creating a fan-art page on my profile, a la ShireFolk. But, like Shire, I have no drawing skills. Like, they are worse than Rukia Kuchiki's. So a fan-art page would be entirely up to you, the fans. If anyone is an artist out there and would like to draw for me, please let me know._

_Once again, please review and enjoy the chapter._

Chapter 25: The Tale

After what proved to be the most hellish detour imaginable, the party had taken the rest of the day off. Rain and Dayne had their injuries tended to (Dayne said that he had used too much energy for his regeneration factor to work as of now) and then everyone went out for a quiet meal to regain their energy (Sora had never seen Kairi eat that much in his life). By the end of the adventurous day each party had returned to their ships, now fully repaired, for one final task.

It was around nine o'clock in the evening when each group gathered in their ship's common room, linked together by a video system. Well, everyone except Namine and Roxas who couldn't assume physical form as of now, but everyone knew they would be listening in to the conversation. The two parties had gathered together at Dayne and Rain's behest, and every being present in the two floating ships were waiting intently on what the two had to say.

"Okay," Rain began with a pent up sigh. "I know that everyone here knows about us...but I think we should set the record straight on our lives." Rain was fairly banged up. The wound from Kaiser was savage to say the least, and now the left side of her shoulder and the upper part of her torso were bound in white linen. Even though she was in stable condition, her skin was abnormally pale and everything about her body gave off how fatigued she was. "We also want you all to know that some things we told you were... well, not lies, just misinformation to help cover us in case you got too close to the secret."

"So, where do you two what to begin?" Kairi asked.

Both former Immortals looked at each other, Rain nodding at her husband. "Well, I guess from the beginning." Dayne said. He was nowhere near as badly banged up as his wife, only a few bandages here and there, but everyone could tell that the warrior was bothered by the battle.

"First, yes, Immortals do... "eat" hearts to lengthen their life." The admission came through clenched teeth. "But Rain and I haven't eaten any hearts in thirty years and we don't plan to ever again.

"As for how an Immortal is created, well Cassius told you the right of it. When a Heartless and Nobody are trapped in a surge of energy – usually a world collapsing – they fuse together to form an Immortal. But he left something out. When an Immortal is created shortly after splitting into Heartless and Nobody, then that Immortal retains the memories of their human life."

Riku gave a shrewd look from his ship. "That happened to you, didn't it Clau...er, I mean Dayne?" The warrior nodded.

"Yeah. Cassius and I are the only two Immortals to remember their human life. If I remember correctly, Cassius was a monk of some sort who became obsessed with his studies...

"But that's not important. I gave you that information 'cause I want to tell you all about my life. I was born 77 years ago, on a world I know nothing of, to an impoverished family. I was the seventh child, a child that ate too much and grew out of his clothes too fast; an unwanted child. Because of this, my father sold me to a slave army when I was five." Certain members had mortified looks on their faces, as Dayne rubbed in chin, smiling at some thought of his.

"For the next twelve years, I trained and fought and watched everyone around me die. Then, well, again, Cassius had the right of it. The Heartless attacked and I became and Immortal. Cassius found me and I joined him for the next thirty-one years."

Silence fell on the group. A question was on everyone's minds but no one wanted to be the one to ask it. Finally, Dayne spoke again. "And I just want everyone to know that I never enjoyed working as an Immortal. At least.... I don't think...anyways." He shook his head. "I just went along because there was nothing else for me in life. My family was dead and I was tossed into a world of Heartless and multiple worlds and things I didn't understand in the slightest. So I fell back on instincts and acted like a soldier."

"And you served for thirty-one years, right?" Kairi asked.

Dayne nodded in response. Cassius had actually told the truth of Dayne and Rain's history with the Immortals, he just left all the personal information. "Thirty-one years. For the first twenty-nine of those, it was just me, Cassius, Tallgeese, Kaiser, and Arianne. But, at the twenty-ninth year with the Immortals," Dayne reached over and held Rain's hand, turning over to give the young woman a kind look. "I got a little joy in my dreary life." He added with a smile.

Rain returned the look and the smile, before the couple leaned in for a brief kiss. When they broke away, Rain continued with the story. "Unlike Heartless or Nobodies, Immortals have normal human emotions. Although these are usually twisted to negatives upon their "birth". But Dayne and I were different. Dayne had grown disillusioned with doing Cassius's dirty work, he was looking for a way out of that life, and saw a new life in me.

"As for me, I really didn't have any feelings either way about being an Immortal. For the first six-months, I did my duties ably and did my best to avoid Dayne's clumsy attempts to hit on me." This drew a quiet chuckle from the group. "But after that, after having to..." She shuddered and shrank inwards, "Eat...hearts. After that, I began to feel a resentment to my situation. The others were all content to their life of causing chaos and destruction to forward and unknown goal. Not me. And not Dayne. For the next year, we began to see each other in secret. At first, it was just sitting around, talking about meaningless things. But it evolved into something more... we started blowing off or extending missions on purpose just to be with one another. We would end up taking week-long vacations on whatever world we were stationed at. We were happy.

"But it just wasn't enough." Rain's downward facings eyes took on a sad cloud. "Even though we were together, we were still trapped, still were apart of the Immortals. We did despicable things that I don't even want to begin to remember; it was a horrible life, no matter how much time Dayne and I were together."

Dayne picked the story up now. "So, we made a decision. Thirty-years-ago, we ran. We ran and we never looked back." A grin began to spread on his face as he thought of the memory. "Our freedom...was a wonderful thing. For the first four years, we would world hop, go from place to place for a few months and then leaving to another place. If the Immortals came sniffing after us, we got out of dodge as quickly as we could and it worked...for sometime.

"After our fifth near-encounter with them, we decided we had to get away for good, to sever all ties with our pasts and just live normal lives. We found a nice world as far away from the Immortal's base as possible, we had found a world to call home.

"The Radiant Garden.

"We instantly fell into military service, joining the armed forces for seven years. If I remember correctly, I made it up the rank of Lieutenant and Rain was a Captain. (A/N 1)"

"Actually dear, you were a Lieutenant-Colonel, I was the Lieutenant." Rain corrected.

Dayne scrunched up his forehead. "Then who was the Captain? I know that we knew a Captain."

"Well you had to have been a Captain before becoming a Lieutenant-Colonel."

"No, no, no! There was a third person who we knew well that was a Captain. Some guy. Or maybe it was a girl? Or maybe-"

"Could you two get on with the story!" Ed snapped on the screen. "I hear enough talk about army ranks on my own world!"

Dayne rolled his eyes. "Alright, but this is gonna bug me for a long time." He cleared his throat and continued. "So, we were in the armed services for ten years. Then, due to are exemplary service, we were asked if we would like to move up to join the ranks of the Radiant Guardians."

Seeing the confused look, Rain jumped in quickly. "The Radiant Guardians are a special force made up of the best soldiers of the kingdom. They act as a secret service, as well as augment the police and military forces, and are connected to the Royal Bodyguards. We floated about the various sects of the Guardians for a year before being transferred permanently to the Bodyguards."

Dayne tented his fingers and nodded, breathing deeply as he did. "Now, this part of the story is...is the part that we lied to you when we previously explained who we were." He looked directly at Kairi, stared into her ocean blue eyes and blurted out, "Your parents." He inhaled again, clearly unnerved. "In order to protect ourselves in case you wanted to find out about our history on the Garden, we lied to you about your lineage, telling you the story of your ancestors instead of your actual parents." Dayne looked at his wife once more, and Rain nodded to him, clearly a signal. Dayne reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a battered bronze locket. He slid it across the table into Kairi's waiting hands.

The girl quickly opened the locket to reveal an old picture. The picture had five people in it, one of which was clearly a younger Ansem the Wise. The remaining four people, two adults and two children, all looked similar, indicating they were a family. The man looked like he was closing in on middle-age, but still looked powerful, strong and fairly youthful. He had short cropped black hair, an equally short black beard, clear cerulean eyes, and was wearing a a silver circlet on his head, eight swords running around the entire crown.

The woman looked younger than her husband, and truly looked beautiful, graceful and radiant, a warm smile crossing her face. She had rich chocolate eyes and cherry red hair that was woven into a braid that hung over her right shoulder. She two wore a silver circlet, this won mounted with an elegant heart at the front.

In the arms of the woman was a young boy, with a darker version of his mother's hair, but with her same deep brown eyes. The look on his tiny face was somewhere between petulant and nervous.

And in the arms of the father was a young girl, wrapped in a blanket, her eyes closed, and only a fine amount of red fuzz on her head.

Everyone who could see the photo (which was everyone but Ed, Al, and Riku) were shocked by the picture. Kairi especially, her mouth wide open in shock at what she was holding.

"The woman," Kairi said, "she looks just like me. Except for-"

"The eyes." Dayne quickly finished. "You have your father's eyes, but other than that, you look just like your mother did." He smiled again and faced the group. "May I present King Agrias II and Queen Beatrix of the Kingdom of Triveste, along with their children, the Crown Prince Kross Ralleone and their daughter Princess Kairi Ralleone." Again, he smiled broadly and then tapped on the glass of the locket. "That was actually taken about a week after your birth, Princess."

Kairi kept her eyes on the photo, clutching the open locket tightly. "May I keep this?"

"Of course," Dayne said. "It should be yours to keep in the first place."

"But anyways, back to the story. We joined the Guardians, and became Bodyguards. Well, at first all we did was guard the King and Queen on shifts. But then, we you were born your Majesty, we were chosen to be your personal guard, to be with you from the moment you woke to the moment you fell asleep. I thought that our lives had finally found meaning, that we finally had found our happy place."

"Sadly, though, that wasn't the case." Rain said, her eyes as mournful as her tone. "Around your fifth birthday," She said to Kairi, "Your father, mother and brother all died mysteriously. We still don't know how your mother and father died, but at least we can assume that Kross was turned into a Heartless and a Nobody and became an Immortal later on. Ansem the Wise – who is not related to you, he was simply a trusted advisor and friend – took emergency provisions and came into power as Regent. He wanted to keep you safe until you came of age, but only a few months after he took power, he whisked you away to an undisclosed location. Not we even knew where you went. Of course, now we know he blanked your memory and sent you to another world."

Dayne then picked up, his demeanor as dour as his wife's. "Weeks after he sent you away, Ansem stopped appearing in public. This is about the time that Xehanort took power and began to control the Garden under the guise of Ansem, having sent the real Ansem into the Realm of Nothingness. Shortly after that, we gave our resignation to the Guardians and left the world. We had no more purpose in the world, our Princess was gone after all."

Dayne exhaled loudly, shutting his eyes, and then stroking his hair back. "And that is basically our lives." He smiled uneasily at the group. "Any questions?"

The others were left incredulous, trying to process the information of the story without burning their brains out.

Even on the screen, the three young men were left in a stunned state. Slowly, Riku opened his mouth and asked a question. "Well, I think you clearly explained everything that needed to be explained, but I have one question about the fight: Tallgeese and Cassius kept mention "The Infuse", what the hell is that?"

"An Immortal can convert their mass of stored up hearts into energy," Rain explained. "The energy increases their powers temporarily, rising to amazing heights. Most Immortals don't like to do it though, as it shortens their lifespan meaning they must...well you know. Also, the Infuse creates a backlash after use, causing immense physical damage based on how much energy used."

Kairi jolted up in her chair. "Wait? If you two used your hearts for the Infuse, how much...time do you two-"

"We don't want to talk about it," Rain snapped coldly, surprising the group. "When we left, we both swore off devouring hearts for ever. We will live with whatever time we have left and not a second more. When we die, we die."

An uncomfortable silence fell on the group again, Kairi's question still hanging on the tips of everyone's minds.

"Listen, I think we should all get to bed," Dayne said, coolly. "We had a long hard day, and it looks like life won't be getting easier for any of us."

Everyone murmured agreement, saying their pleasantries before heading off to bed. Sora and Kairi kissed each other lightly and Dayne hugged his injured wife, telling her to get some rest. When the group slowly began to disperse, Dayne turned to the only person left in the room and talked in a hushed voice.

"Sora?"

"Yeah," the brunette said with a slight edge to his voice. "What is it?"

"I know you're good at it, but don't play dumb with me!" Dayne narrowed his eyes at the boy.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I am talking about! Twilight Town. You were the only one who didn't say anything encouraging to us. Hell, you've been shooting us dirty looks since the fight! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head, averting Dayne's intense gaze. " You know..."

"No, I don't! Didn't your friends explain it clear enough? They all did terrible things to you in the past, and you forgave them. Why can't you forgive us?"

"You said it yourself, they're my friends. I don't know you and Rain; Riku has been my best friend for years, Roxas is pretty much me. But how do I forgive two people that I barely know and...and-"

Dayne was getting impatient. "And what?"

"And trying to steal Kairi away from me..."

"What? I'm sorry, I think I had something crazy in my ear!"

"Well, you two are always spending so much time with her, talking to her, making her laugh."

"We are her servants," Dayne clenched his fist and teeth, the two body parts equally white. "She wants to know about her past. We are just trying to help the poor girl."

"Well maybe I'm just a weird guy when I think Kairi should be spending more time with her boyfriend than with a pair of creepy adults!" Sora yelled.

"Wow," Dayne rubbed his eyes with his palms and swore into his hands. "God damn it, you really are just a pathetic idiot!" The Immortal grumbled something, Sora trying to listen.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Dayne spun on his heels and walked away briskly. "Sora the Keyblade Master... HA! That's freaking hilarious!" He added bitterly.

**To Be Continued**

_Please be kind, review. It would make me feel happy to see some more reviews on my story._

_And again, anyone who has artistic talents, don't be afraid to contact me. Also, I do take suggestions on things like worlds, villains and what-not. So don't be afraid to drop a line._

(A/N 1): For the Radiant Garden Military Rankings, I decided to use the Canadian System

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	26. The Radiant Guardians

_Alright everyone! Sorry about being late on this chapter. I was aiming to bring this up Sunday, but after recently getting back to school, I've had difficulty balancing the new schedule._

_Few updated before we get to business. I now have a new ticker up on my profile page. So now, whenever you want to know anything about the story, or when a new chapter might be up, check my profile page._

_Also, I have decided to add a Fan-Art Section to my profile page. I already linked a piece of work to the section, drawn by my friend Proud-Pastry! Its a bit of a cheat, but I hope this will encourage the floodgates to open. So, if you want to see what I would like as a female, go to my profile. Also, if you want to or have drawn anything about my story, characters, scenes, Keyblades, go nuts! Just tell me and I will host it on my Fan-Art Page._

_Now, I really hope you do enjoy this chapter, because this story is about to kick it into overdrive in the next few chapters. So, read, review, do whatever you may, just enjoy!_

_Oh, and a note, whenever Sora or Kairi talks to Roxas or Namine, or vice-versa, it will be denotated by underlines and italics.  
_

Chapter 26: The Radiant Guardians

"It feels like a weight has been put off our shoulders, eh?"

Rain looked up from bed, taking care to cover herself up with the sheets due to some subconscious reason, to see Dayne stumble around in the faint blackness of their room. After the long, tiring yesterday, the group had decided to take the day off and relax on the ship before they continued their quest. It was nearing noon and the couple was just getting out of bed, which was strange as both were typically early risers, Dayne being so to an absurd degree.

"Yeah." Rain said softly, stroking down unkempt auburn hair with her fingers. "I suppose I should apologize to you."

"For what?" Dayne was searching the floor in a shutter-induced gloom for some clothing.

"Well, remember our last fight, about how you wanted to tell them earlier and I said no and then it just spiraled out from there."

"Oh yeah." Dayne found a pair of pants and, after making sure they were his, hitched them on. "Makes me wondered what would have happened if we told them even sooner, like when we first met them."

Rain adjusted the covers, this time making sure they covered the bandage that stretched down from her shoulder. "They probably would have been fine about it." She answered. "I think they were only angry with us at first because we kept it a secret from them. Even if we hadn't nearly killed ourselves in that fight, they probably would have forgiven us by now."

Dayne was about to say something to the effect of "except for that asshole Sora" but thought against it. He didn't want to stir up anymore worries and would take the chance that his wife's intuition would pick up on the Keyblade Master's animosity. He snatched up a previously discarded shirt, put it on, and ran his hands over it to smooth out as much wrinkles as he could.

"Well, be that true or false, its all history." Dayne declared with a triumphant tone, spinning around on bare feet. He pumped his fists into the air, a cocksure grin spread on his face, his entire body bristling with a confident energy. "As is our tenure with the Immortals, its all behind us."

Rain smirked too, it had been a long time since Dayne had gotten like this. "Yep. Today is the first day of a new chapter in our lives." She let the sheet drop from her body and crawled across the bed on her knees, reaching up to kiss her husband. The two closed their eyes and let the world around them melt away from the few seconds they were. When they broke apart, Dayne cupped his hands around Rain's face, identical smiles flashing each other.

Dayne then cocked his head up, the smile turning into a stoic line on his mouth. "So..." He trailed off, deciding to confront the elephant that was currently in the room. "How much time did you leave yourself after the Infuse?"

Rain shrank at the question, sinking back into the faux-security of the bed. "I'm not sure." She stammered slightly. "I mean, we both were at similar levels before right? So I think I would still be near your amount. How much do you have left?"

Dayne tried not to pay attention to the apprehensive edge to Rain's voice. "Um...a year-and-a-half I would say, give or take half-a-year."

Rain nodded lightning quick. "Me too then. A year-and-a-half..."

"That's more than enough time for one last crack at life." Dayne closed his eyes and smiled. "Hopefully a peaceful life, maybe on the Islands, or back on the Garden. And besides, we don't even know what will happen to Immortals when they run out of reserve hearts. We could die, but we could just as sure continue living." Rain nodded again. "Well, I'm going to get something to eat, do you want anything?"

"No, I'll be out soon enough. Just let me shower." Dayne left the room without another word, closing the door behind him.

Before getting up from the disheveled bed, Rain looked down at her own hands, her white skin standing out in the artificial shadow the room held. She stared at them with a bittersweet smile on her face.

**KHKHKH**

Sora, looking at the ceiling in his room, sighed.

He then felt a sharp jab in his ribs. He looked over to see Kairi, a wry smile on her face, with his right arm wrapped around her shoulders. "What?"

"You know what," she said, "You've been in an odd mood for a long time now." At about nine AM, Kairi had gotten out of bed, snuck past Dayne and Rain's room, and slipped into Sora's to spend some quality time with the brunette. "Every time there's a gap in our conversations, you stare at the ceiling, don't smile, and sigh, sigh, sigh." She shifted around and glared at him.

"Nothing's up alright," Sora finally said. "I'm just tired."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Yeah and I'm the Queen of – Well, I am a Queen but...damn I guess I can't use that exaggeration anymore." She shook her head and got back on track. "Anyway, I know when something's bugging you. Remember when I said you were a bad liar?"

"Yes."

"Well you still are."

Sora nodded listlessly and went back to focusing on the ceiling. For the past little while, Sora had been thinking about Rain and Claudio, or _Dayne_ rather. He had been thinking about the reason for his anxiety against them. He wanted to think it was because the distrust was caused by his lack of an intimate knowing of the pair, as opposed to Riku, who had been the biggest betrayer possible by openly opposing Sora. But Sora knew that part of it was a jealousy to Dayne. The husband-and-wife duo were around Kairi almost constantly, from the moment they woke up until the moment they went to bed. He knew that Dayne was married, that he loved his wife, and that his relationship with Kairi was platonic; they were more like a father and daughter than friends or a royal and her servant. But he could almost sense the connection between Kairi and Dayne, sometimes feeling that they were closer knit than he was with her. And then of course, there were the nightmare, that he would take to his grave (and threatened Roxas to do likewise), of Dayne performing non-bodyguard... duties on the young warrior princess.

Of course, to put the cherry on top of the suspicion sundae, there was the fact that whenever Kairi and Sora showed their affection for one another in public, Dayne would give Sora a look that uncomfortably reminded him of Kairi's father.

_I you're not telling them, then I am._

Roxas's voice pierced through his thoughts like a sword, Sora literally feeling his blonder counterpart smiling inside his head.

_If you do,_ Sora mentally warned, _I'm throwing a 'No Vacancy' sign on my soul_

Roxas ignored the threat and continued on, _Besides, don't you think you're overreacting to this whole thing?_

_I am not! I feel like he's muscling me out of my own relationship, and you would feel the same thing if you and Namine were in our positions._

_Not really._ Roxas pointed out plainly. _I mean, usually, Dayne doesn't sleep all too long, so he's up by like four AM, usually Namine and I ghost out and talk to him until everyone else gets up. He's friendly with Namine as well, though not to the extent he is with Kairi. I guess it's because Namine isn't a Princess technically._

Sora frowned, completely zoned out from the real world. _Well, its not like our situation then. You're always there. Its you three, not the two of them with you being the occasional third wheel._

_Not really. Sometimes I sleep in. I mean, I am your Nobody._

Sora was about to retort, but found himself falling back to reality when Kairi punched him in the arm. "Hey! What was that for?"

Kairi stood up, hands on her hips, and a disapproving look on her face. "You've been like a zombie for the past five minutes. I even flashed you and even those two weren't enough to snap you out of it."

Sora's face instantly burrowed through five shades of red before stopping on a beet crimson. "R-really?"

Kairi face-palmed. "No! I was joking. But I probably could have and you still would have been zoned out."

A bright light flashed over Sora's body, as the ghostly transparent form of Roxas phased out of the Keyblader's body and floated on the window seat.

"Yeah, sorry Kai." He said while rubbing the back of his head. "We were kinda stuck in an in-depth conversation."

Namine followed her boyfriend's move and semi-materialized next to him on the window seat, giggling a little bit as she did. "You two? Have an in-depth conversation?"

"Oh ha-ha Namine." Sora rolled his eyes in sarcasm. "Like I haven't heard that one a hundred times before."

Roxas huffed. "Yeah, but I haven't. That was low, Nam." The blonde lovingly shoved Namine, trying to tip her off the narrow seat.

Kairi noticed that something seemed up with the two blonde Nobodies. "Something wrong with you two?" The two blondes looked at each other uneasily.

"Well," Namine began, shifting uncomfortably. "Ever since yesterday, we got to thinking about us and how we exist."

Sora and Kairi looked puzzled, but let Roxas pick up. "Well, after seeing Dayne and Rain yesterday, it kind of felt like they were reaffirming their proof of existence, and we got to thinking about us." He held up his right hand in front of his face, the ghostly appendage somewhat obscuring his view, but he could still make out Sora and Kairi through his hand. "Even though our bodies are gone, we really shouldn't exist anymore. We do though, even if it is just as souls. And you've seen over time that our situation is evolving. Before, we could just converse with you and one another."

"About two week ago, we became able to phase out of your bodies into these...ghost forms." Namine said, demonstrating the limits of their bodies. She tried to touch the lamp on the bedside stand, but her hand just past through it. "Then, we could actually assume real, physical bodies when we summon our Keyblades...granted we have to take a "cool off" period after doing so."

"Yeah," Sora nodded slowly, "We know this. But what's your point?"

Namine ran her fingers through her short blonde hair. "We don't really have a point, because, clearly, we're looking out into the unknown. We don't know what will happen to us further down the road, we don't even know what has actually happened to us to begin with. I mean, what's next? Are we actually going to gain separate, actual bodies permanently, or is this some sort of fake-out; are we just going to fade back into your souls and cease to exist like ever other Nobody."

With a sad look on her face, Kairi stepped over to her Nobody and grabbed onto her hands tightly. "That's not going to happen. You're apart of me Namine, just like Roxas is apart of Sora, we won't let you go so easily."

The two Nobodies began to smile slightly. Sora, pushing his recent thoughts out of his mind, joined in on the affirmation. "She's right. When we're done with this quest, we'll find out what's happening to the the two of you and we will figure something out." He looked to Namine and Roxas, and then over to Kairi. "We promise, we will."

**KHKHKH**

That one, slow day of relaxation proved to work wonders on the entire party. Injuries were healed, energy was peaking at its highest point, and bad moods were all but vanished. That is, with the exception of Sora and Dayne, but the two did their best to hide the growing feud they had between one another from Kairi and Rain and, if they noticed, the two girls did not make any attempt to draw focus to the situation or try and mediate it.

The next morning, the group was pleasantly surprised to see that the Blank Medallion had set them on a course to the Radiant Garden again, the ship floating in orbit around the rejuvenating kingdom. Although the were stymied on what they could do on the Garden, they were none-the-less happy for a chance at a semi-vacation.

When they landed on the world, standing at the west-end of town, they were met by the gentle summer sun, a clear blue sky, and a blast of heat. You see, the Radiant Garden was a bit of an enigma when it came to the weather. In summer it was sunny and hot, neither a dry heat nor humid, but still hot. In winter, it became cold, windy, and the area became buffeted by precipitation, whether it be snow or rain. Fall and spring fell somewhere in the middle; in spring, it started out cold and cloudy but soon became bright and mild, while fall started crisp and sunny, before turning windy and rainy.

As soon as the group landed on the world consumed by the late morning sun, Dayne instantly felt the heat, stripping himself of his large coat. Instead of his normal leather undercoat (which was similar to Ed's much to Dayne's fury) he wore a sleeveless, collared vest over a t-shirt. Even so, he was still sweating, even at eleven AM.

"Jeez..." Dayne tugged at his collar and made a hissing noise. "I forgot how hot it got here during the summers."

"This is nothing," Kairi countered. "To Islanders, this is like a mild summer day."

Dayne gave a crooked grin. "Yeah well, I never did well in the heat."

Rain stepped up to her husband, a grin on her face too. "Maybe you would do better if your wore something other than leather pants, jackets, and long-sleeved shirts." Rain herself had changed her outfit, swapping out cargo pants for a pair of short-shorts and now wearing knee-high plated boots. Even though Dayne had mumbled something about Rain looking like a teenager, the reformed Immortal carried herself with an air of energy and confidence.

"So," Kairi said, breaking the conversation and stepping out to the head of the group, "What are we going to do today?" Both Dayne and Rain shrugged quickly, leaving Sora the unheard voice. The brunette was currently inattentively staring at his feet, which were in the process of scuffing up the ground.

Kairi gave him a light shove.

"Huh?"

Kairi shook her head again. "What is with you lately Sora?" Sora quickly avoided Kairi's gaze, his own line of sight falling on Dayne, who was also eying the Keyblade Master casually, before falling back onto the horizon. "I said, what are we going to do today?"

"I don't think we should be taking a vacation Kairi," Sora said with a bored tone. "I mean, we still do have a mission to complete, we can't just be fooling around whenever we want."

Kairi ignored Sora's out-of-character refusal to have fun and continued on. "Well, we've already been to the Garden before, and until an opportunity to "be the hero" arises, I think we should take a well rested break." She gestured to the city square around them. "Especially considering where we are."

"Why is this place so..." Sora trailed off as he realized how stupid his question was.

Kairi shrank back into herself, her exuberance replaced by a blushing shyness. "It's just, well...it's hard to explain my feelings for this place."

"No need to. There are somethings better left unsaid."

"Who said that?" Kairi asked, looking around for the owner of the voice; a high-pitched feminine voice.

A new voice answered. "Over here, Red." The second voice was very similar to the first but more...well, bubbly is the only apt word to describe it.

The group craned their heads left and right for the source of the now two voices.

"Oh come on," the second voice teased, "We're right in front of you."

The group looked straight ahead, narrowing their field of vision to see the origin of the calling... a trio of diminutive fairies, one brunette, one blonde with dark skin, and the third with white hair, pale skin, and wearing all black.

"Hey Sora!" Rikku called out cheerily. "Did you miss us?"

Sora smiled at the familiar sight. "Hey! Its good to see you three again!"

Yuna bowed slightly. "And you as well, Sora."

Paine, the black-clad pixie, looked beyond Sora to the other three. "I see you have some new companions." She surmised flatly. "At least they look better than those two fools."

Dayne, who didn't know whether that was an insult or a compliment, was about to open his mouth when Kairi beat him to the punch.

"Sora, who are these three?"

"Oh, right." Sora motioned to the hovering trio. "Everyone, these are-"

He was cut off when Rikku flew up, planting her minuscule foot on his lips.

"Uh-uh-uh," the blonde said with a wag of her finger, "Sorry Spike, but we like to do our own introductions." She then spun away back to her group. "So, introducing everyone's favourite group of teeny-bopping fairies...."

"I already don't like where this is going," Dayne mumbled.

Both Yuna and Rikku quickly struck poses, Paine remained floating normally, arms crossed in an uncaring manner.

"Yuna!" The brunette called out with bravado.

"Rikku!" The blonde sang happily.

"Paine." The white-haired girl said in her normal tone.

Rikku and Yuna then joined there voices together in one final cheer. "And together we are... the GULLWINGS!!!"

Sora and the group looked to one another with blank looks, wondering whether they should applaud or not. Luckily, the conundrum was broken up by Rikku.

"Paine!" Rikku whined. "You forgot to do the cheer again!"

Paine replied in a sarcastic tone, "Oh, my bad. It seems I keep forgetting that every time." Rikku huffed loudly in response.

"Uh...so what are you three up to these days?" Sora said nervously.

Yuna turned to reply. "Actually we have good news!" She then began to mumble to herself. "Um...how to explain this? Oh! Well, these bodies we have right now aren't are actual bodies."

"How is this good news?" Dayne replied with an annoyed edge in his voice.

"Well, we got these bodies when our world fell to the Heartless." Paine explained. "We were almost consumed by the darkness, but Maleficent appeared before us, saying she would grant us artificial bodies if we worked for her."

"We did so, but ever since we left her employ and she left the Radiant Garden, it seems her magic on us has weakened." Yuna declared. "For a few weeks now, we've been able to switch between these fairy bodies and our actual ones."

Rikku zipped in and pumped her fist into the air. "Yep! Prepare to get your minds blown!"

Three puffs of smoke surrounded the Gullwings, obscuring them and the nearby area from view. Soon, the smoke was swept away and the now transformed Gullwings stood proudly.

Paine looked relatively unchanged compared to her companions. The only difference was that the small pair of wings on her back were gone.

As for Yuna and Rikku, well, their transformation had added some more...liberal changes to their clothing. Yuna now wore a halter top that split down the front at the center, revealing a strange mark on her chest that looked like a cross between a 'T' and 'J'. She was also now sporting a pair of hot-pants and a half-skirt that was slung over her left hip.

Rikku's changes were even more...revealing and...dynamic than Yuna's. Her scarf was shorter and smaller, she now wore a short skirt and a yellow bikini top.

The young girl then struck a sexy pose and chirped, "So, how do you think we look?"

While Kairi and Rain had looks that balanced between mild uncaring and slight discomfort at the skimpy outfits on the young girls, Dayne clearly showing his dislike and annoyance at the trio. Sora though, he turned beet red like the morning before, then grabbing his nose in case it betrayed him and started to bleed.

The six other people all stared at the young boy with looks of shock, amusement and anger. Dayne was the first to pipe in with a bark of, "That speaks volumes, right there."

Kairi glared daggers at the young boy, who instantly jumped back to defend himself. "Okay. I know this looks bad. But let me explain myself..."

"Show me your nose." Kairi deadpanned. With a reluctant sigh, Sora withdrew his hand from its defensive position to reveal, that, he indeed have a nosebleed. "Sora!"

"I'm sorry!" He cringed. "It's my body!"

Rikku, always needing to put her two cents in, said, "I take it as a compliment."

"I didn't know real human beings actual did that." Paine noted flatly.

Both Yuna and Rain looked fairly neutral to the situation, almost confused as how to react. But Dayne, he was leaning up against a building, laughing his ass off, holding his ribs in pain. Sora was trying to salvage his dignity the best he could.

"Kairi, listen I..." the brunette fished around for the right words. But how did you apologize to your girlfriend (who you've only been seeing for a few weeks) that you comically bled from the nose after seeing a trio of hot women?

Fortunately for Sora, he didn't have to answer that question.

"It's alright Sora," a slightly agitated Kairi conceded. "I suppose this is a normal reaction any healthy teenage boy would have to..." she glanced sideways to the Gullwings, "three equally attractive women."

Rikku then came up and rested her arms on the shoulder of the couple, drawing them closer. "Ah, young love, ever resilient as always." The blonde laughed before spinning away. "But, anyways, the three of us were off to an appointment, so we really should get going. Vynafamm!"

Sora and Kairi stared strangely at Riku for spouting out the apparent gibberish until Dayne called back, "Oui duu, secco." Again, the apparent gibberish puzzled the two teens.

"You speak Al-Bhed?" Rikku gasped in surprise.

With a crooked grin, Dayne replied, "Ed'c so caluht myhkiyka."

"Could someone explain what Al-Bhed is?" Kairi asked, exasperated at the secretive code-talk.

"Well, the Al-Bhed are an off-shoot of the human race, know for tanned skin and spiral irises instead of dots." Dayne explained, then motioning to Rikku. "She's an Al-Bhed. They also speak a language, also called Al-Bhed, that is simply a cypher for the English alphabet. Each letter in our alphabet becomes a different letter in Al-Bhed. 'A' is 'Y', 'B' is 'P', 'C' is 'L', and so forth."

"That's right!" Rikku confirmed with her normal level of cheer. "So, once more, vynafamm!" She then leaned in close to Sora and Kairi. "That's 'farewell' in Al-Bhed." She then ran off down the street.

Yuna walked up to the teens and bowed to them. "We're sorry about that...disturbance."

"Hey, hey, hey, no problem Yuna. That stuff happens." Sora said, still wary of any fury he may feel from Kairi. "You three just take care." Yuna nodded before she and Paine walked away, following the blonde Gullwing.

"That was an interesting detour." Rain said after the three girls left.

Suddenly, a small group of Heartless came bursting down the street up ahead of the group, sending citizens scattering as they did.

"And this detour looks like a real party," Sora said, summoning Oblivion and running forward.

"No need to panic people! We have this under control! Everyone please remain calm!"

The calming sentiments were issued by two young men, both of whom were in hot pursuit of the small crowd of Heartless, running at a frantic pace to keep the demons in their sights. The party of four looked towards each other in wonderment, before they also headed out after the Heartless.

They found that the two men had cornered their prey at the end of the street, which was apparently only one way, already ready to fight a battle. The man on the left was tall and slender, radiating a sense of calm grace. He had dark tanned skin, like Rikku, showing off that he was (at least part) Al-Bhed, and a wash of short, curly brown and blonde hair that was slicked backwards. He also had a very thin and distinct nose that reminded the party of a some sort of noble bird of prey. The apparently Al-Bhed man was wearing a faded yellow shirt, the collar popping out from his long sleeved silver jacket, full black gloves, and a pair of grey jeans. Strapped to his belt were a pair of thin longswords, each decorated with an elegant golden basket hilt.

The other man couldn't be different from the swordsman. He was a little shorter, with a round, joyous face, long, pointed ears that looked like chili peppers, and a mop of garish bright green hair styled into a shaggy page cut. He was wearing a claret red opened trench coat over a black t-shirt, a pair of fingerless gloves of the same colour, and a pair of similar grey jeans. The green-haired man was holding a semi-automatic pistol in each of his hands.

The group also noticed that the duo had similar badges on their jacket's left breast. One was a set of four silver stars on a sky blue shield, the other was a trio of golden roses on a lavender shield with two swords crossing the shield on a diagonal.

Dayne's memory kickstarted the moment his eyes fell on the badges. _It couldn't be...could it?_ He looked over to Rain, who apparently had the same question on her mind.

"Stop! In the name of the law!" The green-haired man spouted in an over-dramatic way at the twitching black beasts. The Heartless made no attempt that they had heard them, not that they could.

The Al-Bhed picked up on it. "You know, they're not sentient. We don't even know if they can hear. Its absolutely pointless when you say that stuff to them."

His green-haired counterpart simply flashed a goofy smile. "I know. I just like to say it." The swordsman face palmed.

"You're impossible..." He growled lowly before quickly drawing his swords and dashing into battle.

The Keyblade party watched in awe as the two young men quickly dispatched each and every Heartless in a lightning quick fashion. Sora himself had to admit that they were extremely good in eliminating the demons of the dark. The Al-Bhed danced about elegantly, parrying their claw swipes from afar, before giving them a quick skewer or slice to instantly destroy them. Then he gracefully moved on to his next target, always doing his best to dodge any attacks in style.

The green-haired gunner took a different strategy, obviously. He stood back at surveyed the small battlefield taking out any Heartless he thought would be a problem. Heartless approaching him, approaching his partner, or simply just being a nuisance. His two firearms blazed to life when he had an enemy in his sights, leaving behind a cloud of grey gunpowder smoke a haze of black dust from the fallen Heartless. The only time he stopped strafing, eying and shooting was when he quickly and efficiently changed clips for his guns.

Within less than five minutes, the entire Heartless band was gone. With a quick flash of smiles, the two young men twirled their weapons about before sheathing them, spinning about, and catching their first glimpses of the party.

"Well, check it out Clyde," the Al-Bhed said with a certain swagger in his voice, "Looks like we have our very own peanut gallery."

The green-haired man, Clyde replied with an equal amount of swagger. "And not just any sort of peanut gallery. A very special celebrity gallery." The two approached the Keybladers.

The unknown Al-Bhed pointed to each of the other four people and called out their name. "Sora, I take it Dayne and Rain." Dayne looked alarmed that he didn't address him by his pseudonym, but did not say anything. The young man then came to Kairi, green eyes shimmering with acknowledgement. He and Clyde both fell to their knees, with the Al-Bhed man taking one of Kairi's hands gently kissing it.

"And of course, you are Princess Kairi."

Normally, Kairi hated being postured to simply because of her status as a royal, but when the person doing the posturing was a young, handsome man like the Al-Bhed kneeling before her, she couldn't help but blush and swoon slightly.

At the sight of his reddening girlfriend, Sora saw the need to but in.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" He yelled loudly, sliding up next to the kneeling swordsman. "That's my girlfriend buddy!" The man looked up in sheepish surprise, but Kairi, who's face was slowly losing its red hue, took exception to Sora.

"Watch it, Sora," she said in a low voice. "I gave you a free pass on the Gullwings, you owe me this." Once more, Sora gulped and backed away from Kairi.

"Ahem," coughed Clyde, he and the other warrior now standing back away from the party. The young Al-Bhed spoke up next.

"I'm sorry for our abruptness." The man had an odd drawl to his voice, no doubt due to his heritage. "I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Allister Cdyn."

"And I'm Clyde Rantz." Clyde said happily.

"And you're Radiant Guardians, I take it." Dayne broke in quickly. "Why else would you be wearing those badges." Both men quickly touched the double badge on their jacket breasts.

"What do you mean by that?" Kairi asked.

"The blue shield and silver stars is the symbol of the Radiant Guardians." Dayne explained. "While the golden roses on the pink shield, known as the Radiant Aegis, is the sigil of the Royal House of the Garden. Its typically worn by those who serve the Royal Family."

Allister smiled. "I would expect no less from a former Guardian."

"Wait," Rain said, an unsure look crossing her face. "I understand how you know about Sora and Kairi, even me, but how do you know Dayne's actual name? Or that he was a Guardian."

"Um...that Terra guy sent a message to the Restoration Committee yesterday." Clyde admitted, an equally puzzled look on his face as he explained. The group looked shocked and confused, as it definitely wasn't the first time that Terra's seemingly omniscience showed itself, Dayne himself cursing under his breath. "Then he told them to pass it on to the Guardians."

There was definitely an unease now on the group after Clyde's admission. Terra knew far more than he was letting on, clearly knowing "Claudio's" real name even before he did. It was also equally shocking that he knew exactly when these secrets were revealed and could contact whoever he decided.

Sensing the tenseness in the group, Clyde spoke up again, looking at Rain and Dayne. "So...uh, how put this? Are you two really, um..." The green-haired man then began to make exaggerated noises and various comical gestures that drew confused looks from the ex-Immortals and Keybladers, as well as an embarrassed sigh from Allister.

"Immortals?" Rain finished flatly. "Yes. And you don't have to beat around the bush about it...or whatever it is that you're doing." Clyde stopped his bizarre pantomime with a sheepish grin.

"Hey," Sora said suddenly, "I've got to say, I've never seen two people dispatch Heartless like that, it was awesome!"

Clyde and Allister flashed grins, obviously feeling they had received praise from Caesar. "Well, that's what happens when you've had radical, unethical experimentation done to you." Clyde blurted out in an almost proud manner. Allister quickly gave him a sharp elbow in the gut.

"Shut up, you dumbass." He hissed, though it was a useless gesture as the others had heard.

"Experimentation?" Sora repeated.

Allister sighed again. "I suppose there is no hiding it. You see, after the Fall, the training academy for Guardians was sub-planted on Traverse Town. Clyde and I, like most people, lost family in the Fall, and we decided to enroll in the Academy. Problem was, the tuition costs were astronomical, even if they were desperate to refill the ranks of the Guardians." Allister ran his fingers through his hair, clearly not wanting to have to tell this story. "In order to get money for tuition, we, along with a few current Guardians, signed onto an experimental study on the human body.

Clyde nodded, the joy that seemed to be a regular on his face gone. "It was conceived as a way to increase the potential of the human body and soul in order to combat the Heartless. Various chemical experiments on our D.N.A. structure, manipulating spiritual energy, even chipping away various pieces of bone and in place, grafting on shards of Materia."

"But it all worked out," Allister finished, the nonplus look on his face replaced by a more neutral one. "Not only did we get the money for enrollment, but the powers the experiment gave us boosted our skills to the point that we were ranked in the top of the class."

"And all you had to do was sacrifice your humanity." Dayne bitterly commented.

"Whoa, easy there buddy," Clyde said, "No need to judge us."

"Oh, but there is." Dayne pushed, anger slowly pulling its cape over his face. "For someone that isn't human, I can say that I am sickened by your willingness to toss away what makes you human. And for what? Some money and a way to cheat the system."

"Actually," Allister countered, walking towards the tall warrior, "I was going to say 'For a chance to complete our goals and protect what we care about'." Allister stood tall and proud, staring at Dayne with a chilling calm. The Al-Bhed was a fairly tall man, but even he fell short of Dayne by two or three inches.

In contrast to the suave calm that was Allister, Dayne was all bluster and anger. "You can justify it however you liked, but the fact still remains. You gave up being a true human." Maybe there was a point to Dayne's argument, the others thought, as they saw a look of pain creep into his eyes. After all, both Dayne and Rain had lost their humanity by force, and just wanted to be human. It would be difficult for them to look at Allister and Clyde, two who willingly gave up their humanity and didn't want it back at all.

Weird as it was, despite previously showing that she would get angry when confronted by the subject of her humanity, Rain said nothing, she just watched with no emotion on her face.

Allister remained unflinching like stone. "I can live with this supposed 'lack of humanity'. I don't care if I am judged. What does bother me, is that I'm being judged by a hypocrite. Yeah, I said it. You and Rain may be Immortals by force, but you both went through the academy. You can't tell me with a straight face that neither of you, not once, used your powers to help you get into the positions you came to be in fifteen years ago. I'm just fine with what happened to me during those experiments, because now I can protect people better than I could before. But if you're not fine with that, then piss off!"

For a moment, it looked like the furious Dayne was about to throttle the calm Al-Bhed, but then, he just backed off. He leaped up into the air, landing on a nearby rooftop, before leaping across the nearby buildings and away from the alley.

Allister let out a sigh, and let his shoulders slump down. "Sorry about that folks," he apologized to the others, specifically Rain. "I didn't mean to set him off, or offend any of you for that matter."

"Its alright." Sora said, slightly pleased that Dayne had been knocked down a peg.

"And in 5...4...3..."

The four others turned to Clyde, who was watching the second hand on his watch slowly tick down. "...2...1...yes! Woo-hoo!" He jumped up slightly, fist pumping in the air. "We're now off duty!"

Allister shook his head. "Sometime I wonder about you." An idea then popped into his head, turning to Rain and saying, "Listen, I know that you our all on a mission to save the universe and all that jazz, but I was wondering if we could escort the Princess," once more, the dreaded "P-word" caused Kairi to cringe, "around the Garden for the day."

"That's sounds alright..." Rain said with a nervous edge. "But why are you asking me?"

"Well," Allister mumbled, scratching his head. "I guess because you're the adult and...you know what never mind." He turned to Kairi. "Does that fly by you, miss?"

"Of course," Kairi said quickly. "And, please Allister, just call me Kairi."

Allister smiled as he, Clyde, and Kairi, began to walk down and out of the alleyway. "Understood. You don't have to call me Allister either, Al is fine."

When the two Guardians and the young warrior princess left, Sora looked at the only remaining companion. Rain. Even though he was in a mood of distrust and animosity with his two new party members, most of his current anger was directed at Dayne.

_I suppose this won't be so bad..._ Sora thought as the prospect of spending the day with Rain fully dawned on him. _At least she doesn't condescend me like Dayne does._

"So..." He said at last, "What's our plan for the day?"

Rain shrugged, the slightly shorter woman walking past Sora. "I don't know. But, it is around noon. Why we get something for lunch, my treat."

Never one to turn down a free meal, even with someone who he currently wasn't on friendly terms with, Sora happily agreed and the two left like the other two parties before them.

**KHKHKH**

Meanwhile, far off from the Radiant Garden, on the island world of Neverland, Riku and the Elrics were leaving the Lost Boys camp and heading back to the coastline.

After stepping foot of the familiar world, Riku had instantly decided to search out Peter Pan and his troupe of young children. Although Peter wasn't nearly as suspicious as Aladdin or Jasmine were, he still wasn't totally willing to forgive the white haired boy. What followed was two hours of various buffoonish activities ranging from an eating contest followed by a belching contests, mock sword duels, and various hazing activities. But, for the sake of burying the hatchet and to redeem himself once more, Riku played the part of the willing participant well enough and completed each task put before him, ending it all by shaking Pan's hand.

"Well that was a waste of time," Ed bemoaned as the trio exited the jungle, transitioning onto grassy plains.

"But, we're still not done yet, brother. We can't leave until the Blank Medallion fires off." Al reminded his diminutive brother with his tinny, hollow voice.

Ed huffed and adjusted his gloves. "Well, the rest of this stay can't be as bad as what we just went through." Riku, from the head of the group, gave Ed a dirty look. The blonde quickly covered himself with a non-caring remark. "Hey, don't get me wrong. I know why we – or, rather, you – had to do that. I'm just saying it was hell is all."

Riku turned away and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well that's really the last we're going to have to worry about my past affecting this journey." He said confidently. "Every other world I was on, I never got caught or got in conflict with anyone. It's smooth sailing from here on out!"

Suddenly, a high whistling erupted into the air. The group looked up to see a missile, smoke trailing behind it, steaming to their location. Riku and the two brother alchemists jumped backwards to avoid the rocket and the following explosion. When the dust settled, the trio looked up into the sky again to see Josef, still clad in the white track suit, now wielding a large rocket launcher over his shoulder.

"Hey there, ass-clowns!" Josef cackled, as the heavy cannon vanished into thin air.

"Oh, great," Ed said with a crestfallen look on his face. "Its this guy."

Josef laughed at the comment. "What's wrong Keybladers? So sad to see me 'cause you know I'm gonna kick your asses?"

"Uh...no." Ed countered. "Its because you're loud and annoying."

Josef gave an ugly scowl. "Yeah, well this loud and annoying Immortal is about to take you down."

Way to the Dawn appeared in Riku's hand. "Well, looks like we just found the rest of our stay." He said to Ed.

The Fullmetal Alchemist summoned his own Keyblade and took his stance, letting out another huff. "Yeah. And unfortunately, it looks like it's going to be as bad as what we just went through."

**KHKHKH**

Sora gently clamped his chopsticks on his fried egg and equally as gently brought it up to his face.

After twenty minutes of searching for one of the Radiant Garden's restaurants to suite their needs, they came across a row of vendor carts selling hotdogs, kabobs, and various other quick, easy and affordable foods. As soon as Sora spotted the ramen cart at the end of the row, he darted for it as quickly as he could and got his ramen bowl with a nice fried egg on top. Rain elected not to eat as Sora quickly tore through the noodles, beef and broth.

"So, how is it?" Rain asked, casually people watching in the square they were in.

Sora slurped up the egg, chewed, swallowed, and answered. "Well, not as good as the stuff we have home. But I doubt there is any ramen in all the worlds good enough to top that stuff." The two then got up from the bench they were sitting at, stretching their limbs, and thinking of what to do next.

"Anything you can think of?" Sora asked Rain, the pair already walking away from the smells of the vendor carts. Rain once again shrugged.

"Couldn't say. The city has changed a lot since I've been here." Rain was delightfully surprised that Sora was not in a bad mood at all. She had suspected for the last day that something was brewing between Sora and Dayne, and as much as that worried her, she was glad that at least Sora seemed slightly friendly to her.

The two made a casual left at a large stone fountain, heading to an area more devoid of people than the areas around it. Sora looked up the sky, placing his arms behind his head as he did.

"When do you think this journey will end?" He asked, seemingly to Rain and no one at the same time.

"We still have two medallions left." Rain answered. "And Riku's group has at least two as well. So it seems to me that we have four new Keybladers to make. And then we have to get rid of the Immortals." Sora nodded in Rain's logical analysis. "And it seems we still have a lot of ground to cover on that topic."

"Boy, do you ever!"

Sora looked down and to Rain. "Who was..." He trailed off, knowing the answer to the question. "Rosa!"

The two turned around to see the female Immortal in her breastplate lounging on a stone mermaid that rose out of the center of the fountain. She was cupping the stone face and looking at it judgmentally. "Even if you are a statue, you're still nothing more than a carved whore... Shame I'll never find anything in this world that matches my beauty." She then turned her head at Sora and Rain with a bored gaze. "Oh, so you spotted me."

"Yeah, we spotted you." Rain said coldly, remembering her recent history with the twelfth-ranked Immortal. She had Scarlet Queen at the ready. "What do you want, besides to be a thorn in our side as usual."

Rosa jumped from her perch and landed in an elegant fashion, bowing with a spray of curly brown locks. When she stood up, she said in an almost nonchalant manner, "I'm here to kill you."

Sora summoned Oblivion. "Try us! We beat you back on Halloween Town, and we can do it again."

The female Immortal chuckled, stalking her opponents in a circular motion, boots clicking on the stone ground. "Oh, but there is a difference between there and now. You see, after our little scuffle on Twilight Town, its been decided that you annoyances need to be wiped out." A cruel smiled spread across her face, as an aura of energy began to spread out from her body. "From now on, you're going to have to face each and everyone of us, at our full strength."

Rain seemed undaunted by these new facts, raising Scarlet Queen and aiming it at her foe. "You say that as if it's suppose to scare us. Why don't try again, little Miss Prostitot."

Rosa's eyes twitched, her mouth turning into a hard line. "Prostitot?" She sneered, trying to blow-off the insult. "Please. Like a stupid insult is going to bother me!"

"Really? Then what's that ugly little vein on your forehead?" All eyes fell on the pulsing vein on Rosa's head. "I guess if that insult didn't bother you, it must be another ugly little flaw on your ugly little face."

This time, Rosa did indeed show how much the insult bothered her, gnashing her teeth together and giving Rain a vicious death-stare. Rain smiled wickedly at the effect of her psychological warfare. She had to admit, even though she was quiet woman, messing with an opponent was fun.

"That's it! You little bitch....you've been nothing but a pain in my neck since I met you. Before I kill you today, I'm going to slash up your ugly cow face and mutilate your fat-ass body!"

"Um...not to barge in ladies, but you haven't forgotten about me, have you?"

Rosa looked to her right, seeing Sora had snuck up during the banter between her and Rain. The Keyblade Master swung Oblivion and Rosa's legs before launching a fire spell. Rosa quickly dodged away from each attack, before backing far away and drawing her katana.

"I suppose I can't just deal with one pest and forget about the other one."

**KHKHKH**

"So, what do you think of your kingdom?"

Kairi looked over at Allister's question. To be true, Kairi had expected something a little more whirlwind in Allister and Clyde's tour. Instead, they simply milled around the city, the two Guardians chatting with anyone they knew, window shopped here or there, never really doing anything amazing.

"Well, we really haven't seen the actual kingdom." She answered listlessly. She looked ahead to see a large section of the city under construction.

"Oh, but the charm of the city is the very essence of the kingdom." Clyde replied with a swagger. "The people, the shops, the places; after all, it is the capital."

Kairi nodded slowly. "Yes, but..." She trailed off, trying to pick her words properly. "Its just, I'm not entirely sure on-"

"Ruling a kingdom?" Allister finished. Today, if nothing else, Kairi learned that the young swordsman had good intuition. "Don't look surprised," he said, getting a glance at her with his peripheral vision. "I mean, why else would you want to hang out with us for a day instead of having some alone time with your boyfriend."

Kairi pushed some of her hair back. "Yeah... Its just, there is so many things to consider, about running a kingdom, about leaving my life behind and giving up a normal life. I keep hearing people tell me its not a choice I have, that I have to do it. Its my destiny. I just don't know what to do."

Allister put a calm hand on one of her shoulders. "I had an instructor, back at the Academy. And she always had a phrase she used whenever one of us had a tough dilemma. Remember Clyde?" The green-haired man nodded rapidly. "It was 'Your heart will always lead you to what is right'."

Kairi nodded and thought about the words for a brief while. "I suppose I have to figure this all out when the time is right."

"We trust you'll make the right decision." Clyde piped in happily.

"And what would that be?"

"I dunno. Whatever your heart says is right. Weren't you listening?"

Kairi glanced over to Allister. "Is he aways like this?"

"Sadly yes." Al replied. "I've been friends with him for fifteen years and it still takes some time to adjust."

Kairi laughed slightly, before looking up to the horizon, the spires of the royal castle breaking into the skyline. _My kingdom... Maybe one day I'll get use to those words._

A weird noise permeated the silence of Kairi's contemplation. The trio looked over to see a black portal forming. Stepping out of the inky blackness, accompanied by a hazy aura of overwhelming power, was the dark knight of the Immortals, Kira. Kairi turned milk white at the sight of the twisted shade of her brother, stepping back in fear. The fear was terrible, a dark demon clawing at her insides. Or maybe that was the darkness Kira had infected her with. Whatever it was, she could feel herself shrinking in the presence of the black armoured terror before her.

Luckily, she had Allister and Clyde, who did as their duty foretold, stepping forward to protect their Princess. Allister's hands had both fallen to his swords and looked Kira with his normal calm face. "What do you want?"

"I have come for my sister." Kira rasped with his arms, sword, and shield outstretched. "Who dares stand in my way?"

**KHKHKH**

Dayne stood outside the town, in the middle of the small ruined plaza that a few months previous, Sora had fought with, and killed, Demyx. He stared out at the horizon and the mountains before him.

He had cooled off from his argument with Allister, at least on the outside. He was still moody though, but at himself.

After hearing Allister's confession that he was okay with his inhuman nature – how slight it be – Dayne had to take a look at himself. Allister and Clyde, and the other Guardians who had been experimented on all used their own powers to protect their loved ones, protect the people of the Garden, protect the city and kingdom they loved and held dear. Dayne just used his powers to fight, and he was far less human than they were.

The worst of course, was that Allister was fine being non-human. He could live being something else, even if it wasn't visible. Dayne couldn't. He hated being an Immortal. He was nothing better than a Heartless or a Nobody or a Fell Soul, just a monster that proved only to be an unnatural insult to the Gods. He could never accept himself as anything good; he was violent, moody, hate-filled, and arrogant.

The only good thing that he had done in his life was serve the royal family, and no matter what, he could never do that again. Kairi had shown no interest in accepting her fate as Queen, she would visibly cringe at any form of royal formality. And she had no need of a bodyguard anymore. She was strong herself, and would get stronger. She also had Riku and Sora to watch her back.

Even though he had appeared to gain a new lease of life, he was trapped by fate. Trapped by something he couldn't control. And he hated that! He hated when his own life was ripped from his hands, that he had to live by the rules of destiny or whatever bull-crap the universe had to throw at him. For the next year-and-a-half, he was forced to live as an Immortal. That was the end of it. He would live this self-hated existence and then whatever happened to Immortals who ran out of life would happen to him.

But at least he still had Rain.

Dayne lowered his view and stiffened, standing straight. "I'm surprised it took you this long to come after me, Cassius."

He turned around, promptly on his heel, to face his former leader. Cassius. The first-ranked Immortal. Resplendent in his flawless white cloak and robes, the hood peak and drawn over his head and face, but Dayne could see strands of grey hair and cold, amber eyes from within the void of the hood.

Cassius placed his hands in a steeple, his eyes flashing as he stared down with his former subordinate. "I could have come and finished off you and your little wife at anytime." The Immortal leader threatened. Unlike most people, Cassius stood even with Dayne, maybe even a little taller.

"And yet you waited until now. Why?" Dayne shrugged his shoulder to bring High Streak down to the ground, so the hilt was at his level. Not only was Cassius at a height with Dayne, he was built like a bull, broad chested and thick armed, where Dayne was lithe and gangly.

"Quite simply, I wanted you to be the coup-de-grace for my mission." Cassius boomed, his being crackling with bright orange energy. Both men let out a flood of spiritual energy, a hazy aura gravitating and pressing down on the plaza, the force so powerful that it actual began to crack tiles.

Dayne heaved High Streak in both his hands, taking his stance.

Cassius flexed his hands, as his body pulsed with orange energy.

"I suppose this was inevitable." Dayne said darkly. Cassius only raised his head, to reveal a thin grin on his face.

As the three Immortals arrived on the world and unsheathed their true power, the July sun was inexplicably covered by a blanket of black clouds.

A storm had fallen on the world.

**To Be Continued**

_Just a little side-note, Allister and Clyde are common characters in my stories and the stories of some of my friends. They have been in almost every piece of fiction I wrote since I was fourteen. Whether they be wise-cracking drug dealers, high school kids trying to make it in the world, or an Al-Bhed and a goofy sharpshooter, they are constants and I always like writing them._

_And, as promised, stuff will get crazy over the next two chapters. Next chapter we will have Terra vs Creed, Riku & the Elrics vs Josef, Sora and Rain vs Rosa, Kairi vs Kira, and Dayne vs Cassius. It will be a knock-down, drag out brawl of epic levels. Next chapter, "Immortal Death-Match"._

_And the chapter after that is the one I've been waiting to write since I started this fic. I can't tell you anything about it, except for the chapter title, which will be called "Rain of Fire"._

_But, because of the content in these chapters, I can't give you an estimate as to when they will be up. You'll just have to wait and see._

_And, just in case I miss the opportunity, in five weeks, the Winter Olympics will be coming to my hometown, Vancouver (to be fair, I live in a suburb outside of Vancouver, but I feel like I live in Vancouver because my hometown and Vancouver are grouped into the same area). I am absolutely hyped for the games and to have the eyes of the world on my home. If anyone maybe in the area for the games, send me a message. I have those two weeks off, so I may be able to visit one of my fans in the flesh._

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	27. Immortal Death Match

Chapter 27: Immortal Death Match

A shimmering barrier appeared around the area, sealing the combatants off from the outside.

Each belligerent side eyed one-another, waiting for someone else to make the first move. Rosa idly ran her fingers up and down her katana, letting the fingers dance on the steel. Both Sora and Rain stood in their battle stances, swaying slightly, eyes never removing themselves from the Immortal. The tension fell when Rosa swung her blade to her side and charged forth at a wicked pace. The two heroes of light braced for impact, but were shocked when Rosa blurred out of vision for a single second. When she came back in focus, there were two Rosas running in for the kill!

The two Immortal copies split as they neared their targets. Sora took matters into his own hands and charged forward with an overhead slash on his Rosa, but as Oblivion made contact with the speeding girl, she faded away into nothing. A confused Sora was left to watch the real Rosa collide with Rain and slam her skyward and into the barrier. Rain shoved her off of her and followed Rosa to back to the ground, the two letting their blades dance across one-another as they fell. When they landed, they continued the deadly duel, the steel blades move so fast that they were nothing more than silver and crimson blurs.

Rain rolled under an overhead slice and went for a thrust kick into Rosa's flank. The kick was blocked by the flat of Rosa's blade and shove Rain away, spinning the ex-Immortal around. As she spun, she also flourished her sword about, blocking a series quick jabs from Rosa.

And then the two began to dance about, their weapons singing a symphony of shrill screeches. The elegant women spun about, swords clashing with one another, kicks intercepted by other kicks, and Sora was completely left out of the action. The brunette just stood around almost stupidly, watching his ally and his enemy due battle without him. He kept a careful eye on the two, trying to discern an opening in the scuffle, but he could only see a whirl of steel that equaled death for anyone stupid enough to approach it.

Rosa went for a low, spinning leg sweep. Rain jumped to avoid the attack, turning her body diagonally in the air, and jabbed her blade forward. Rosa weaved her upper-body to the side to avoid the piercing lunge. Rain used her momentum to roll forward, behind Rosa, and Rosa did the same to roll to her right. They both got to their feet quickly and swung their sword with a fierce amount of strength. Sora could literally see their bodies trembling from the vibrations.

And yet, the two combatants did not let their blades remove themselves from the opposing blade. The two diminutive females engaged in a battle of strength, trying to cause their enemy to lose ground. They pressed their free hand against their blade and pushed against the opposing force with all their might, creating a dead heat and a shower of friction-induced sparks.

Soon though, Rain slowly got the advantage, as she began to push Rosa backwards, her boots sliding uselessly against the cobblestones of the square. In panic, Rosa decided to cheat, maliciously jabbing Rain in the eye with her thumb before kicking her in the throat.

Rain sputtered in surprise and pain, dropping her sword as one hand went to her eye and the other clasped her throat. She backed away from the smirking Immortal, who switched her katana to a backhand grip and loped in for the cheap win.

Or would have, if Sora had not launched a Firaga spell at Rosa. At the last moment, she spun around and crossed her arms, letting the flames wash over her. Sora charged in, Oblivion raised over his head, but Rosa stopped the strike mid-swing with a quick swipe from her sword.

"What do you think you're doing kiddo?" Rosa smirked. The first contact had sent Sora off balance and then into the defensive, as Rosa rained down lighting-fast strikes with her katana.

"I'm fighting." Sora grunted, rolling under a slash, getting back to his feet and meeting her with a slash from Oblivion. "It's sort of what I'm known for."

Rosa danced away from the black Keyblade and laughed to herself, as she spun around. The Immortal then began to play with Sora in a way, always staying just a few centimetres away from the tip of Oblivion, and dodging when he came in too close. "If that's the case, then you probably find a new thing."

With a swift axe kick, Rosa brought Oblivion crashing to the ground, Sora's arms following it. She then palmed Sora's face and lightly shoved him away, as if he was nothing. Rosa then turned around to see Rain, recovered from the cheap blows and Scarlet Queen back in her possession.

"Ready for round two?"

Rain gave no response, so Rosa broke the ice, sending a wave of energy over to her opponent. Rain jumped above the basic energy attack, seeing Rosa darting skyward like an arrow.

"7 Rose Draw, No. 4: Buster!"

The supernatural titanic fist collided with the enemy Immortal. The force drove Rain back to the ground faster than she flew up. The phantom hand didn't disappear, instead, it continued to crash down, over and over again, trying to stomp out Rosa like a bug. The curly-haired woman rolled around like a human on fire. Eventually the barrage stopped, as Rain touched back down again. Rosa kipped-up, exhaling heavily.

"What the hell was that?" Rosa sneered in a particularly ugly manner. Rain gave her a dead, neutral look.

"Well, you Immortals have made it clear that you're not going to fight with the gloves on anymore." Rain replied calmly. "I think the least we can do is reciprocate the favour." Rain gave a very dark smile. "And I'm going to enjoy stomping each and one of you out. Especially you."

"Good luck, you old bitch!"

Rosa swung her sword, firing off a trail of golden energy blades.

"7 Rose Draw, No. 5: Shield of the Scarlet Flowers!"

The blood red barrier appeared before Rain, vaporizing the incoming projectiles. Rain darted forward, breaking apart the shield, but saw that she was charging into open space.

Rosa warped beside her enemy and slashed quickly, the cold steel biting into Rain's side. The ex-Immortal gasped in pain, as Rosa began to spin around, snapping a series of kicks. The first got Rain in the wrist, forcing her to discard her blade. The targets of the next few kicks were her face and the wound she had just created. Rain stumbled away in pain, rolling in a bloody fashion away from her sword. Rosa once again sensed a kill...

But, for the second time, was blocked by Sora! The second their swords made contact, Rosa jumped backwards and away.

"What did I say to you last time, junior?" Rosa yelled indignantly at the young Keyblade Master. "This is grown-up business, so why don't you go sit in the corner with your thumb up your ass like a good little brat!"

Sora answered with a flurry of Blizzaga spells, the crystalline missiles scattering through the air. Rosa dodged the first few, letting them skitter around on the ground. She wasn't as lucky with the next few though, as the massive shards exploded against her, forming a thin film of frost on her skin and armour.

Sora eyed his icy enemy with a dark look in his cerulean eyes. "Don't think you can jerk me around!" He raged. "I am not going to be pushed around by you idiots! In my life, in the past few years, I have dealt with enough crap! I will not be pushed around, I will not be disrespected, and I will not let myself be treated like a big pile of nothing by the likes of you!"

It felt good to vent out loud, Sora had to admit. Between this battle where he had been treated like a novice, a little child, the tense atmosphere between him and Dayne in the last few days, his lack of privacy with Kairi, and the hell the Immortals had put him through over the last little while, he had been keeping a lot of stuff internalized. Just vocalizing that rant against Rosa made him feel a new strength within his soul.

Little did he know, was this new strength within his soul, could also be seen without his soul. Both Rosa and Rain (who was still recovering from her wound) saw a distinct change in Sora. Oblivion was pulsing with a bright white light, even giving out a low, mechanical humming sound. Rosa could see that Sora's eyes had taken on then same white light, circling around his irises. A multicoloured curtain of magical light, shimmering and shifting, encompassed the area around Sora's being. But the other changes were much more sinister, as stubby, shadowy tentacles, not dissimilar to something found on a Heartless, were snapping at his ankles. And a weird, spectre could be seen in the magical veil of light, looking like a white silhouette of a woman.

_What the hell is that?_ Rain wondered, wide-eyed as Sora charged Rosa again, first with preemptive Aerora blasts and then a quick combo of slashes. Rosa dodged the magical and physical barrage with a look of fear on her face.

Oblivion and the katana made contact and Rosa staggered, stumbling over her own feet as the charged-up Sora continued the brutal assault. A downward slash was quickly blocked, but Sora managed to use the two blades to vault himself up into the air. Rosa narrowly dodged two lunges and a twisting, diving slash, rolling to the side.

Rosa sped away from Sora, but the Keyblade Master was two-steps ahead of her, using Quick Run to appear next to her, spinning counter-clockwise with Oblivion fully extended. With no time to react, the black Keyblade collided with her breastplate with such force that she rolled over the blade of Oblivion and on to the ground, holding her stomach in pain.

Sora wasn't done yet. He continued to rain down Keyblade slashes like Rain did with the Buster fist minutes ago. Rolling around frantically, the young female Immortal quickly thought of a plan. She rolled onto her stomach and held a three point stance on both hands and a knee. Using this position, she was able to avoid a Keyblade strike and counter with a swift kick to Sora's head, planting her heel into his temple.

Both combatants separated from one another, Sora reeling in pain, Rosa to get away from the apparently berserk Keyblader. She was relieved to see that the strange aura around him and Oblivion had faded away, but saw that his strike to her mid-section had cracked her armour, a small trickle blood running out of the crack.

Driving the katana into the ground, the blade phasing through it like nothing, Rosa called out, "Steel Eruption!"

A burst of energy erupted from below the staggering Sora, catching him in the searing geyser of energy. Lances of steel spike followed the blast, threatening to impale the dazed Keyblade Master.

"Fatal Bullet!"

Rosa zipped across the ground, sword crossed over her body, and a burning red aura encompassing her body. She collided with Sora, shattering the steel spire prison and ramming him into the invisible barrier. She then performed a quick back-flip and repeated the attack, crushing Sora against the wall over and over again. Finally, after about four brutal crashes, Rosa bounded off of Sora's battered body and took high to the air.

She spun her weapon in one hand clockwise, and did a pirouette in the sky, spinning the opposite direction. Red and blue energy began to trail and spiral about her as she dove towards Sora once more.

"Fusion Drill Crash!"

The double-rotation living drill was about to make contact with Sora, inches away from ending his life, when she stopped mid-attack. Rain was back on her feet and in the battle, having launched a telekinetic tendril from her first Draw and attaching it to Rosa. With all her might, Rain yanked on the cable and hurled Rosa into the barrier. She followed up with the third Draw, Spirit Bomb, the energy blast bouncing Rosa off the wall and into the air. She finished the series by connecting a spinning kick into Rosa, once more sending her down to the ground.

Rosa crashed and Rain landed, instantly jogging back to check on Sora. The brunette had a dazed look on her face, his clothes had been torn and battered by the repeated assaults from Rosa.

"Sora? Sora?" Rain shook him lightly, trying to bring him back to his senses. She knew that Sora could take more of beating than this, so why was he nearly knocked out? Was it a side-effect of that weird aura? "Can you hear me, Sora?"

"Yeah," He replied weakly. "Ergh...It feels like I got ran over be a bus or something."

Rain had to smile at the cliché. "Yeah, something like that." She checked over her shoulder, Rosa was starting to stir. "Listen, I know that you want to fight, but do you mind sitting this one out?"

"Why?"

Rain picked up Scarlet Queen and swung it about. "As you can tell, the two of us sort of have a little vendetta." She patted Sora on the shoulder and turned to face her enemy.

Rosa was back up on her feet, herself looking fairly banged up, a dark scowl crossing her face as she flicked curly bangs out of her eyes.

"You know what bothers me, you little pest," She began, as the two women once more took up their stances. "Its the way you associate yourself with the Immortals."

"I don't associate myself with your kind." Rain snapped. That was always a sore spot with her, more so than Dayne even.

Rosa chuckled to herself. "And there in lies the problem. You don't associate yourself with your own race. To you, I'm the Immortal, the pest, the monster, the beast. But in reality, that's not me. That's us! When you were trying to stomp me out like a bug back then, you might as well have been trying to murder yourself. And you and your hubby can act all high and mighty and righteous about it, but when all things are considered, you're more closely related to me than that half-conscious punk in the corner there."

"I'm nothing like you!" Rain shouted. It was paper thin as to what Rosa was trying to do. She was trying to work Rain into a blind rage, weaken her clarity in battle. The sad part, was that the strategy was kind of working.

"Then what are you, if not a monster?"

Rain steadied herself, trying to let the anger ebb away from her. With her normal cool tone, mixed in with a dark sort of confidence, Rain replied with a smirk. "I am myself. Whatever that may be." She said, confidence and strength lacing her normally quiet voice. She then tossed Scarlet Queen into a gap between two stones, throwing her arms to her side. "And I'm going to prove it by finally eliminating the cancer that is you!" A familiar golden nimbus pulsed around Rain. "7 Rose Draw No. 6: Celestial Armour!"

The aura engulfed her for a brief moment, and the airy, ghostly armour summoned by her innate technique replaced it. Rosa slowly backed off at the familiar ability

Rain extended her wings to full length and blades slid out from her gauntlets.

"A sense of deja vu is common." Rain announced. "As is the sense that your about to get your ass kicked!"

**KHKHKH**

Kairi had remained a frozen figure ever since Kira emerged.

The black knight kept his hollow gaze locked on his once-sister, loosely holding his club-like bastard sword and kite shield at his side. Kairi trembled whenever she was unfortunate enough to gaze into his eyes, those eyes like puddles of oil, ready to spark into an inferno of hatred at any moment.

Allister and Clyde instantly went into action. For the first time in their short careers as Guardians, they had a Princess to protect, and they weren't going to sully that honour. Both men stepped forward, blocking Kira from a direct path to Kairi. Their hands had fallen on their sheathed weapons.

Kira didn't like this new revelation one bit. "Who dares stand in my way?"

"Allister Cdyn, acting Commander of the Royal Guardians."

"Clyde Rantz, acting Second-in-Command of the Royal Guardians."

The Immortal wasn't impressed. "I don't care to mingle with peasants trying to play protector." He said flatly. He raised his sword, and motioned at the two young men and the person they were protecting. "The only business that concerns me is the girl behind you. If you value your lives, step aside and don't interfere."

Allister cocked his head side-to-side. "So...you want to battle the Princess, is that right?" Kira grunted in response, which Al took as a "yes". "Fine. The I will be her proxy."

"What?" Kira said, dumbfounded. "She can fight well enough, she doesn't need a proxy."

"Wrong." Allister stepped forward, loosening both his blades and twirling them about. "As you can see, the girl is shaking to death. I don't know what you did to her, but it clearly has left her in no state to fight. And, as a member of the royal family, if she is challenged to a fight, a member of the Royal Guardians can serve as a proxy." Allister's words had left Kira in an even darker mood. "You do observe and respect the rights of royalty on this world, do you not... Kross?"

The dark knight gnashed his teeth at the mention of his former life. "Very well, if you wish to throw your life away for this harlot, then so be it!"

The words washed over Allister like they were nothing. "I'd watch that mouth of yours buddy." He began to remove his jacket and shirt; he would need all the mobility he had to win this fight. "There are a lot of people on this world who wouldn't appreciate hearing that word and that girl paired together." With his clothing gone, Al know only wore a sleeveless black vest on his upper body, with a pair of black gloves for added grip.

Both men took up their fighting stances and began to slowly move in a circle, analyzing their opponents. Allister was a very methodical fighter, always having an eye out for any sort of weakness. He could spend hours just watching his enemy before their weapons even touched.

Kira wasn't that kind of fighter though. Within a minute, he broke the circular movement, bull rushing forward with a wide-arcing, clubbing strike. Allister always like to go second in everything. He moved away from Kira's range and then moved into his, connecting with a short combo of seven hits. All seven slashes went to Kira's right side, which had much less cover than his shielded left side. They rattled across his armour from his ankle up to his shoulder but did nothing more than make a metallic _chinking_.

Allister back-pedaled from his menacing foe and Kira pursued, obviously not taking the fight seriously, as he only attacked with sword strikes, refraining from the use of his dark magic. Meanwhile, Clyde had moved Kairi and himself off into the background, to remove themselves from collateral damage and to give Allister more room to work with. The two watched as Allister's blows continued to rain across Kira's armour, ineffectively looking for a weak point in the armour. He was always at the wrong angle to hit a joint, where the armour was weaker, and whenever he went for a head-shot, Kira brought up his shield.

"Clyde..." Kairi began, softly as she still felt weak from confronting Kira. "Does Allister stand a chance?"

The green-haired gunner noted the worry in her voice. "Well, not knowing this screwed-up bugger's abilities, I would say yes."

"But..all of his attacks are just hitting the armour. It doesn't even look like the armour is getting damaged by his sword!"

"He's biding time." Clyde explained, keeping a close eye on the action. "He's waiting for the Limit Break to kick in."

"Limit Break?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah. That's the name of our powers we got from the experimentation." Allister had gone for an overhead slash on Kira, but he was blocked by the shield. Kira threw Allister off, leaving him to scurry on the ground back into a defensive position. "You see, each of the experiments gain basic powers that are active at all time. Increased strength, speed, agility, stamina, and the innate ability to cast magic. But we also have are own unique powers. Its sorta like path with four "Gates" on it. We all start at the "Initial Gate" and as the intensity of the fight and are own energies build up, we can pass through the other gates: first level, second level, and final. Each gate gives us new powers. And believe me, Al's First Gate will really change the tide of battle.

Kairi was going to ask more questions, but found herself drawn back into the battle. Allister was staying to Kira's left side, limiting the Immortal's ability to attack. Eventually, Kira grew fed up with this and started to swing his shield in wide, vicious arcs. At one of these moments, Kira swung into himself and Allister took the opportunity to take a stab at the armpit, easily piercing the thinner armour for the first wound of the fight.

Unfortunately it was a very shallow wound and Kira quickly shook Allister off of him, sending him stumbling backwards yet again. This time, Kira showed his irritation to Allister's tenacity and threw a dark fire ball or two towards the Al-Bhed. Allister quickly guarded with a Protect spell but that came crashing down when Kira did another bull charge, smashing the barrier like glass. Allister quickly leaped over the swinging sword and mule-kicked Kira in the back of the head to generate a little distance.

But when he landed, Kairi could tell that something had changed in Allister. His eyes were...different in some way she couldn't quite but her finger on. She could also sense a shift in his spiritual energy. It was as if he had doubled his strength in a single moment.

Clyde smiled and said. "He hit the first Gate."

A ghostly orb appeared above Allister and shattered, the transparent shards raining down on his body, which started to pulse and waver with a slight green and yellow aura.

With a slim smile, Allister charged Kira like a speed demon. The dark knight swung his blade uselessly, trying to hit where Allister had been moments ago, the enhanced Al-Bhed moving at an incredibly blinding pace. Allister was a fairly fast and agile human, but the Limit Break just made him move that much faster. No matter how fast and often Kira striked, he couldn't touch the Guardian.

"You dance very prettily." Kira said in a mocking manner. "But I still am unimpressed by your fighting skills." He swung and Allister jumped over the blade and over Kira.

As soon as he landed, Allister pivoted his feet, turning with the same wicked speed and slashing his right sabre diagonally down Kira's back. No sooner had the lightning fast steel left its target, did the armour split apart to release a torrent of black blood! Allister had slashed through Kira's dark plate armour with this thin, elegant swords!

Kairi was taken aback by what happened, leaving Clyde to explain. "Allister's First Gate powers: increased speed and agility, and the ability to channel his spiritual energy into weapons, making them ten-times more effective at cutting. And let me tell you, he keeps his sword pretty sharp to begin with..."

Kira was equally shocked by the wound, and redoubled his efforts on squashing Allister. The two warriors met with a thunderous clang, Allister's enhanced sword chipping into Kira's thick, ugly sword. Allister then twisted away from the lock and swung with both his blades, the left one missing its mark, but the right one bit into Kira's right rerebrace, a gout of blood once again answering the deft slash. Allister continued to spin around, his swords batting away Kira's meager defence.

_Amazing..._ Kairi thought as the two swordsmen continued to do battle. Allister had figured out Kira' weakness: he was all defence, on offence. He could protect him self in a mediocre fashion, but had poor timing when it came to countering. _He's standing up to Kira...and doing a better job fighting him than any of us did. And all for me...someone he just met today._ Allister had scored two more hits, criss-crossing blows on Kira's chest. The sight of his own blood seemed to unnerve the Immortal. _And all I do is stand around, like a useless slug. Just because I can't come to terms with my fears..._

While Allister had stepped back for a temporary retreat, Kira changed his strategy, falling into his supernatural skills.

"Pillar of the Abyss!"

A line of inky pools appeared on the ground, with one instantly erupting into a tower of darkness. Allister took that as his cue and began to jump around to avoid the pools.

"Malice Rain!"

The dark residue from the pillars gathered into the air and formed into thick clumps of black smoke. Instantly, the clouds unleashed their payloads, firing a storm of black needles that clattered down onto the ground. Allister ran away from the rain of death, choosing the smart path and running towards Kira.

The Immortal canceled the attack and prepared for a mighty slash at Allister. But he never got the chance. Allister weaved his body around in an unnatural manner and lunged forth with his right sword. The empowered blade pierced Kira's shield and left gauntlet, poking through the other side. The normally mysterious Kira was horrified by the sight of a sword impaling his entire arm. Allister finished the strike by casting a Blizzard spell down his sword and into Kira's shield and armour. The kite shield soon froze over and shattered like cheap pottery, and as Allister withdrew his sword, parts of the left gauntlet began to chip away too.

Allister slowly padded backwards, as Kira clenched his teeth and bloody arm in mute rage. The oil puddle eyes had been ignited, and the raging inferno of darkness had been lit.

"I...will not be made a fool of!" He grumbled with the deep, hoarse voice of his.

Allister chuckled slightly. "Your own fault for underestimating me."

"Silence!" Kira spat back. The dark energy around him began to rise up from his body like black flames. "I will be your judge and your reaper for your crimes! Circle of Guilt!"

Kira drew a circle of black fire before him with his bastard sword. He then slashed through the circle, which broke up into a torrent of dark fireballs. Allister's went wide-eyed at the attack and barely managed to dodge it, rolling away as the fireballs collided with a wall. By the time he made it back to his feet, he was met by a charging Kira, who headbutted him in the gut, sending him flying backwards once more, and forcing him to drop his swords.

"Tartarus Nail!"

Kira hurled a black energy bolt from his left hand, which impacted with Allister's chest, causing his whole body to seize up. Blood began to dribble from his mouth as he slowly got back to his feet.

Kira lorded over the downed enemy with a sick grin on his face. The dark energy building around him, began to concentrate into a shadowy orb in the palm of his left hand. He moved the hand slowly behind his ribs and waited, waited every tense second for Allister to climb back to his feet. "I hope that you go to the grave knowing full well you failed in your duty, Guardian!" Kira thrust his palm outwards, releasing the dark energy into a single stream of energy.

"Void Cannon!"

The blast took Allister square in the chest with the force of a rampaging Large Body. It took the wind right out of his body, and began to sear away at his flesh and clothing. He would have been killed if he had not quickly cast Protect before the attack hit. When the stream dissipated, Allister reeled around slightly, before falling down on his back.

Both Clyde and Kairi were in shock. Just moments ago, Allister had been dominating the battle, with no sign that he would lose. Now, all signs pointed to just that. Kira slowly walked up to his fallen enemy, savouring the moment.

Kairi was breathless, near catatonic. The fear she had felt deep within her the moment Kira had appeared was starting to clump up in her throat. It was hard to breath. She could feel this thick, blackness in her, paralyzing her, choking her. Allister was going to die. Kira was going to kill him, just because she was too afraid to fight Kira. She could feel it, the darkness Kira had put in her, it was clawing at her, gnawing her insides. It wanted to torture her, to kill her. The darkness in her and the terror outside her in the form of Kira. They were crushing her, slowly. She was going to die too. And it was all her fault.

_No! Fight! Fight girl! Don't ever surrender!_

The strong, male voice rang throughout her body, rocking her soul. Cutting away the suffocating fear she had just felt. But she didn't know where it came from, or who it was. But...it sort of sounded like Sora...

Snapping back into reality, Kira had reached Allister, a boot on his chest, sword leveled Allister's head. Clyde had one of his pistols gripped in his right hand, the left fingering at some kind of bomb.

"Any last words, human scum?" Kira sneered.

"Actions...speak louder than words." Allister panted, before spitting out a bloody glob of spit at Kira, landing on his cheek. Kira scowled even more at the insulting gesture.

The dark knight slowly raised his sword high above his head, preparing for the inevitable decapitation. But, before he could; before Clyde could spring into action, Kairi finally took charge.

"KIRA!"

All parties looked over to the young girl, Oathkeeper drawn, trying to look as strong as she could despite the terrible fear she felt.

"Leave them alone. I will fight you!"

**KHKHKH**

"This is insane!" Riku shouted over the mechanical drone.

"WHAT?" Ed asked.

"I said 'This is insane'!" Riku repeated.

"WHAT?" Edward was two-feet away from Riku... but he had his hands over his ears to block out the sound of Josef's massive gattling cannon, which was currently firing round after round onto the makeshift alchemical barricade the trio was bunkered behind.

Riku face-palmed before turning to Al. "We have to figure out how to get out of this situation. Any ideas?"

"No... and this wall won't hold out forever." Alphonse was at a huge disadvantage, especially compared to the others. Normally he would draw a transmutation circle on the ground with the piece of chalk he kept handy. Unfortunately, the majority of their fights before took place on stone, not like the grassy bluff they were currently on. "And if he starts firing heavy explosives like grenades, then we're really in trouble."

"Grenade..." Riku mumbled to himself. A look of enlightenment spread across the white-haired boy's face, as he cupped one of his hands, concentrating on it. Black and gold Dawn energy began to form in his cupped hand, swirling together to form a golden orb with a black core. "Thanks for the idea, Al! Antioch Grenade!"

Riku lobbed the energy bomb over the wall without looking, hoping that it would make contact with Josef.

What he got was a big explosion followed by a cry of "Son of a bitch!"

_Bingo_. Riku thought, hopping over the wall with Al. Ed popped his head up, hands finally off of his ears.

"Oh, hey," Riku said as he spotted Ed. "Look who decided to join the fight!"

"Yeah, yeah." Ed muttered. "Very funny..." Ed jammed Fullmetal Fury against the inner wall of the barricade, creating one of his supernatural alchemical reactions. From out the barricade came a barrage of iron pikes, rocketing to Josef. The spears tore away the remains of his gattling gun and shredded Josef's clothing, but he rolled away before taking any big damage.

Riku kicked Josef in his ribs, taking to the air using the same Dawn Skate technique he used for super-speed. The lanky Josef dodged the follow up slashes, before summoning and firing a pair of semi-automatic rifles. Sun Shield blocked the flurry of slugs. Riku dropped the magical barrier and slid along the air, but Josef met him with another round. Riku did a barrel roll to avoid the shots but Josef pivoted around like a turret, his trail of bullets only inches behind Riku's heels.

"Not so big now, huh?" Josef cackled, as he was prone to do. "Yeah! Can't use your ass-crack magic when you're being attack, huh? Looks like your about to take it hard in the – WARGH!"

Riku looked back to see the source of the commotion, finding that Josef was tumbling comically through the air, courtesy of an alchemical fireball from Ed. Riku smiled at the back-up and charged in for another assault, this time managing to nick Josef's shoulder and ridding the annoying man of one of his annoying firearms. Josef tried for some-sort of fancy breakdance mid-air spin followed by a kick, but Riku avoided the strike and gave Josef a kick of his own, one of the normal variety.

When the gun-toting Immortal recovered, he already had two more weapons in his hands: a grenade launcher and some sort of high-tech hand-held rail gun. He fired the grenades down at the Elrics, ending Riku's back-up support, and then took aim at Riku with the rail gun.

A chamber opened up on the large cannon-like weapon, with the empty space crackling with electricity, before firing a massive metallic slug. Riku summoned another Sun Shield, confident that the barrier would prove effective in stopping this projectile too.

"Oh, thank you! This is what I've been waitin' for!" Josef called out as soon as Riku created the golden protection. Before Riku could puzzle out the meaning, it hit him.

The shell pierced through the barrier like it was thin air and got Riku in the stomach, exploding violently and sending him crashing back into the grass below.

Riku got up slowly, holding his stomach. "Erg...that hurt more than Xemnas' Aerial Blades..."

"Watch it, Whitey!"

Edward's words were perfectly timed, as Riku looked up to see Josef firing another one of the massive slugs at him. Riku used the Dawn Skates to get out of the splash range of the shell and then started firing his Rays of Dawn at Josef. The Immortal gave a smug smile before turning his rail gun sideways. A small plate on the side of the gun began to glow, projecting a barrier out to block the Dawn-energy lasers.

"What...?" Riku stammered in shock. Josef just grinned wickedly.

"Yep, say hello to EG900-Key Buster. The ultimate, totally Immortal exclusive rail cannon. As you can tell, it fires electro-magnetically charged exploding shells, designed to pierce through high-energy barriers, and is equipped with its own energy barrier at the side." He aimed the gun again and fired another shell, this one just a little warning shot (or maybe because Josef was absolutely unbalanced, Riku couldn't tell...) before continuing. "With this puppy, I maintain total long-range supremacy!"

"Yeah, well too bad for you I can take to the air!" Riku's Dawn Skates flared to life again as he went into the sky to meet the enemy, leaving behind an indignant Edward, who was ranting about those who could not fly.

As Riku was charging, Josef began to float backwards, at about the same speed as Riku was flying. He then took aim with the "Key Buster".

_Damn it!_ Riku panicked at the charging weapon. _I can't dodge in time I have to try and block this... But how? Sun Shield won't work, but what about the... No, I can't use that... Damn. I have no choice._

"Come, Guardian!"

The massive, demonic shadow, the gift of Xehanort's Heartless, appeared from behind Riku. It quickly floated in front of Riku with its arms spread wide, just as Josef fired the shell.

"Dumbass..." Josef cackled again. "Darkness is a high-energy type too!"

The shell made contact with the Guardian, and actually pierced it! The ordinance created a massive crater in the chest of the Guardian and then continued its path, not slowed at all, and blasted Riku, exploding around him again! When the fiery explosion cleared, both the Elrics saw Riku, quickly diving down into the ocean below, and the Guardian, writhing in pain as it slowly disintegrated.

And in a second, both Riku and the Guardian were gone.

Josef couldn't contain himself, as a smile spread across his face, before breaking into a violent laugh. "One down, only two more morons to go!"

**KHKHKH**

The storm hadn't broken yet, the clouds were still gathering, the wind was still stirring, and Dayne and Cassius were still squaring off.

But, like a storm, the calm could break any second.

Cassius hurled off his cloak, revealing his form to Dayne for the first time in over thirty years. Tall, muscular and imposing; Cassius preferred to show his opponents what they were facing, and so wore little clothing. Baggy grey pants, boots, and metallic bracers were all that covered Cassius's scarred and muscular body. His hair was of medium-long length, with spikes jutting out everywhere, and coloured grey and black, with the occasional (and bizarre) line of electric blue, and his eyes were a cruel red-yellow colour.

He then unslung his weapon, a large, double-bladed greatsword that he wielded effortlessly in one hand. The guard was shaped like an ornate dragon head, and the fuller piece running down the middle of the blade was shaped like a gout of flame. It shone blood red in the clouded afternoon sun.

And, instantly, the storm broke. Cassius extended a palm and shot forth a burning jet of fire. Dayne crossed his arms over his face, letting the flame wash over him, and then waited for Cassius to charge. As soon as he took to the air, Dayne side-stepped the slash and met him with a strong swing, that Cassius easily blocked.

Cassius smiled at the quick exchange. "I'm glad to see that you're skills haven't failed you after all these years."

"Don't pretend to flatter me." Dayne said in an even tone. "You've done that move a half-hundred times to me when we spared. If I remember correctly, you always led off with it."

The two men moved away from each other, letting their blades lazily slide off one another. This wasn't going to be a battle about speed and agility. Cassius was a brawler to an insane degree. He didn't care if he got hurt, so long as his enemy got hurt more.

"Well said," Cassius returned, his booming voice was part congratulatory, part sarcastic. "Then let the true show begin! Flare Shield!"

Even though he called out his attack, nothing really happened immediately, leading Dayne to wonder what exactly would happen.

_Damn... I wish I could remember more of his abilities...What the hell does Flare Shield do again?_

Before he could ponder more about this topic, Cassius lunging forward, a burning sun orange energy forming around his body. Cassius came out with a thrust followed by a side-kick, both easily avoided by Dayne. What wasn't easily avoided was the (apparent) effect of Flare Shield. The orange aura around Cassius spiked into a raging inferno surrounding Cassius. Dayne narrowly avoided licking lashes of flame and heat, turning in time to see another attack from Cassius. This time, a downward chop.

The massive greatsword drove into the ground, narrowly avoiding the side of Dayne's foot. The aura around Cassius and his blade morphed again, this time the flame from his sword managed to make contact with his left leg. The super hot flames burned through his pant leg and his skin, sending Dayne spinning away, as the flame shield died down again.

_ARGH! That stings like a bitch! I forgot how hot those flames were! And with Flare Shield turning him into a living bonfire every time he attacks, I'm going to pressed into a corner pretty quickly._

With Dayne creating distance from Cassius's hellish flames, his wounds took the time to heal, specifically the leg wound, which Cassius noted. "Ah, the perfect body." Cassius mused. Dayne's burns vanished quickly, leaving only the burned pant leg as evidence of the flame making contact. "Truly one of the zeniths of all Immortals. Its a shame your mind and will weren't of the same strength."

"I didn't come here to talk," Dayne barked back. "I came here to settle old business!"

Dayne charged again, but he found that Dayne wasn't interested in being attack. Every time Dayne came too close, Cassius would perform this half-ass movement that could barely be called an actual attack to cause the Flare Shield barrier to flare up. Unable to actually get close to his enemy, Dayne was at a disadvantage, as he knew his pistol would be ineffective against Cassius, his long-distance elemental attacks would only work for so long, and Cassius had an extensive arsenal of long-distance attacks.

"Ah...screw it!" Dayne muttered after nearly taking a face full of flame.

Dayne made another charge, this time slashing with insane speed. With no other choice, Cassius blocked the slash with his greatsword, then used his other hand to punch at Dayne. Even though the blow missed, his Shield spiked up again, the intense heat of the flame shield rushing at Dayne, who jumped to get away. His shirt and the trim of his jacket were burned, as was his skin, but his plan was in action. He spun High Streak above his head and unleashed a good old fashion Chain Art.

"Prism Chain Arts, Blizzaga Style: Diamond Dust!"

Small flecks of snow and ice rained down from the helicoptering blade, landing on Cassius. From the flecks, a layer of ice began to spread across, his body, not much compared to what Diamond Dust normally did, but considering that Cassius was a fire-elemental, it was pretty impressive. The cold ice even managed to subdue the furious aura of flame.

"This won't hold me long!" Cassius snarled from his icy semi-prison.

Dayne landed, his wounds healing. "It's not suppose to hold long!" He ran his hand across his blade, which began to crackle with violet electricity. "Just long enough to taste a little Lightning Blade!"

Dayne scored three direct slashes with his electrified blade, but he knew that wouldn't be enough to put Cassius down, or even slow him down. Dayne had what Cassius described as "Perfect Body". Dayne's body constantly repaired tissue that was damaged, defying all biological rules of cellular growth. So long as Dayne had a sufficient amount of energy (which was very little), and the wounds weren't heavily saturated with enemy spiritual energy, injuries would heal within seconds. Even fatal injuries would be healed given enough time, usually a few minutes. In a way, Dayne was the only Immortal with a true sense of immortality

And Cassius had the opposite, the "Perfect Soul" as Cassius liked to refer to it. While Dayne's body would never die, he could run out of energy to power that body; Cassius's soul provided his body with a literally infinite amount of energy. No matter how injured he became, or how long a battle dragged on, Cassius would always have a constant amount of available energy. He even managed to design a technique that channeled energy into his body, making him impervious to a certain degree of pain.

And therein lied the difficulty for Dayne. He had to finish this battle quickly. The longer this battle went, the more it favoured Cassius. And both men knew this fact very well. Dayne had only landed three shallow hits, three hits that Cassius wouldn't feel, and he had just spent the past five minutes trapped in a corner.

Snapping back into battle, Dayne brought High Streak up to meet Cassius's blade, now covered in a sheet of white-hot flames. Dayne quick used his Ice Brand Chain Art, turning his blade into a sub-zero slab of metal. Each time the two swords clashed, they hissed violently, as if expressing their master's contempt for one another.

_I can't let him gain any ground._ Dayne thought. The two blade's were pressing against one another, smoking rising from each weapon, in a game of strength. _As quick as I can. All out in one blow._

Cassius drew his blade back and winded up for a huge chop. Dayne ducked the decapitating slash and spin around while the Immortal leader recovered from his swing. Dayne jammed down on the throttle of High Streak and thrust the sword towards Cassius, purposely aiming for the flat of the blade. The pulsating blade easily pierced through the magical metal.

"Prism Chain Arts, Blizzaga Style: Crystal Gardens!"

Glowing bright blue, High Streak shot out a wave of freezing mist, enough to freeze the few droplets of sweats that beaded Dayne's forehead. Then, spreading out from Dayne's high tech blade, the epicenter of the cold, came a wave of diamond shaped ice crystals, that covered Cassius's greatsword, making it look like a reptile with thick, icy blue scales. With a quick rev of the throttle, and a twist of his sword, he took advantage of the frozen metal and shattered the entire blade.

_No holding back!_

Dayne jumped backwards from the shocked Cassius, leaping through the curtain of descending diamonds. He circled High Streak around him, leaving a yellow energy trail, and then held it in front of him.

"Prism Chain Arts, Aerial Style: Grand Decapitating Air Wave!"

Slashing High Streak through the air, Dayne fired a spiraling bullet of air and yellow energy. It struck the ground before the weaponless Cassius and exploded, creating a gouge in the landscape, and sending Cassius and an avalanche of debris flying backwards.

_Now or never!_ Dayne thought, building up as much energy in his body that he could. A powerful yellow aura, unlike the energy of the proceeding Chain Art, blanketed his body. _Punch it!_

"Prism Chain Arts, Finisher Style: Heavenly Divider!"

The aura flared to life around Dayne, part of it transforming into his energy wings. He glided across the ground and football kicked the prone Cassius high into the sky. When he reached the zenith of the climb, Dayne followed after him, flying at breakneck speeds and performing vicious, fly-by slashes on his former boss, which sent him even higher into the sky.

Flapping his wings, Dayne overtook the bloody, dazed, and airborne body of Cassius by about fourty-metres. He held High Streak above his head and looked down upon his prey.

_I can win the entire conflict right here. I have to! For everyone! It's...my destiny!_

Dive-bombing at unnatural speeds, Dayne waited until he came in range of Cassius and swung with all his power, aiming to strike at the heart of all Immortals...

Only to have it blocked by one of Cassius's bracers!

With a look of mocking contempt on Cassius's face, and incredulous disbelief on Dayne's, Cassius threw High Streak to the side as the two continued to fall. His hands and feet then went ablaze, as Cassius struck a spinning thrust kick into Dayne's gut.

High Streak descended as all the wind rushed out of Dayne's body. Cassius followed up the kicks with a variety of unarmed strikes. Spinning kicks, jabs, hooks, clubbing blows, and knee strikes, all set ablaze, and all making critical impact with Dayne's chest, stomach, shoulders, head, and back. The assault sent Dayne hurtling away, but Cassius wouldn't have that. Hooking onto his foe's pants leg, Cassius twisted himself and Dayne around in midair, repositioning both men as they continued their (artificially slowed) descent to the ground.

Cassius was now in a sitting position, body bent at the waist, legs full outstretched, and his arms locked around Dayne's legs. Dayne's entire upper body was placed in the gap between Cassius's legs, back facing the ground, with his thighs resting up against Cassius's chest and knees and calves placed onto his shoulders. The entangled foes were spinning, and quickly building momentum.

With a smug look of superiority, Cassius looked down on his former ally and laughed. "You honestly thought that because I lacked a weapon, you could easily put me away! Let me show you how to dominate a foe: Liger Bomb!"

Suddenly, the air erupted around the two mortal enemies erupted into a conflagration. They had become a fireball, a meteor! The two enemies, locked and burning, made contact with the ground, creating a huge blast and a crater. Blinded by the light of the flame, Dayne couldn't see what was happening, but he felt a searing wave of pain wash over him, and could feel his body spinning out of the crater and to somewhere else.

When the flame subsided, Dayne tried to gather his surroundings. High Streak was next to him. That was good. But the next sight was terrifying. He saw his own exposed skin! His clothing had been torn and burned in the last exchange. His clothing, his _fireproof_ clothing, had been burned! He grabbed High Streak and slowly rose to his feet, his whole body aching. His regeneration factor would compensate for this, but not for about five minutes. Victory was slipping away from him with every second...

Across the battlefield, Cassius was standing, a smirk on his face. Dayne was relieved to see that Cassius wasn't undamaged from his assault, with several open, bleeding cuts etched on his body. Problem was, they didn't seem to be affecting him too much.

"Do you know what your weakness is Dayne?" Cassius began. Dayne did not reply; he was trying his hardest to will his healing factor on even further. "Its the eyes. Mine and yours. They are completely different and hence, we are completely different. Your eyes are an open window to your mind! I could easily see that you wanted to end the fight quickly. I could see the fear, the uneasiness. You were like a frightened animal, lashing out at any opportunity you were given, not caring what the reaction of your opponent would be." He held up two fingers. "I could see two steps ahead. You would disarm me of my weapon, and set me up for Heavenly Divider, knowing Hell's Butterfly wouldn't be enough. How you would do that, was a variable, so I just sat back and wait for a moment to counter. My eyes don't give you that advantage. My eyes are locked gates, sealed away so tight that no key could open them. My weapon has been dismantled, you've robbed me of half of my arsenal, and you still don't know what I can do."

Dayne felt the odd, stretchy, foldy feeling of his body healing big wounds. "Well, if you're so smart, what do my eyes tell you now?"

"You're waiting for my next attack, which you will dodge and then slash deeply into my hamstring. I also would expect that the rest of the battle you would keep me grounded and focus on slowing me down... But you didn't count on an one important thing."

Within a less than a second, Cassius covered about fifteen-metres, traveling up to Dayne in the blink of an eye. He then clocked his stunned adversary with a blazing right hook, that scorched Dayne's face and broke his jaw, sending him flying away to the ground again.

"...And that thing is that you are nothing more than a cheap, weaker, useless imitation of myself."

**KHKHKH**

"Where...where am I?"

The words echoed through the air, as Riku slowly got up to his feet. He couldn't remember what had happened to him. He summoned the Guardian, Josef insulted him, fired his cannon, which blasted through the Guardian and hit him, and then...

_Am I dead? I could be... I mean, the blast may not have killed me, but I must at least be unconscious...and we were fighting over water. Did I drown? I must have. I drowned...and died._

The teen looked around at his surroundings. He was standing in the middle of a black haze, on a glossy white platform.

"This is heaven?" Riku asked with a wry smile on his face. How he managed to smile at this was beyond even him. "I wasn't expecting it to be so...bland."

"You're not dead. And don't be so cocky as to think you automatically got into heaven."

The speaker was the armoured figure from Riku's last Dive into the Heart. He was currently in the process of removing his mask and tattered rags, revealing a set of very intricate armour, complex golden and metallic blue plating flaring all over a set of seamless black armour.

The blank white platform began to peel away, transforming into Riku's Awakening platform. The blacked out heart on the platform, next to the circular head-shots of his friends, was still black out. But one thing had changed; the last "head-shot circle", the one that used to contain Xehanort's Heartless, was now cracked up so badly that the face on it was unrecognizable.

"So...why am I here?" Riku asked. "I was sort of in the middle of a fight."

"Don't worry." The armoured man replied. "When you perform a Dive, time on your Awakening platform moves at an accelerated rate compared to the outer world. You've been here for maybe three minutes, and only a few seconds have occurred in the real world since you passed out.

"But, as for why you are here... Potentially two things. One hinges on another. I have someone I would like you to meet, but first, I want you to tell me what the Dawn really is, beyond telling me 'It is darkness becoming light'."

What Dawn really is? Riku hadn't thought about the Dawn's true origins since he had first received the power. He was only concerned with gaining proficiency in mastering it, shaping it into new forms and abilities; offensive, defensive, and passive. But, since he had become so intimate with the element over the past while, he did have an innate connection with the mysterious energy.

"Well...its not a perfect fusion of darkness and light, like twilight. Dawn is more of an imperfect combination, sorta...three-quarters light, and a quarter darkness. But again, its darkness transitioning into light. One energy becoming another. Its odd, because things like darkness and light are innate, separate from a person... Kairi has the power of light, but that's only because she is a Princess of Heart. She didn't learn it. They can only be endowed to somebody, not taught. Dawn... you made it look like I was given the power of Dawn, but you really just secretly taught me how to use it, didn't you?" The armoured stranger nodded slowly, his stance showing approval of Riku's puzzling ability. "Darkness to light. I already knew how to use darkness, and to turn one energy into another... to turn the night into day, I add the energy of my heart, my soul into the darkness. Dawn is... my darkness and my soul, creating darkness and light."

"I must say, I am pleasantly surprised that you figured it out so quickly." The armoured figure admitted. He looked down at the platform. Riku followed his gaze, seeing him staring at the rising sun at the central mural. "In the past, the few Warriors of Dawn had always been warriors that walked a path of atonement. You betrayed Sora out of jealousy, became one of his biggest adversaries, realized the error of your ways, and decided to start down the path of redemption. Evil to good. Darkness to light."

Riku gave the man a questioning look. "Wait... 'start down the path'? Don't you mean, 'walked down the path to redemption'?"

"No. You still have a short ways to go before everything is said and done. But that is besides the point; you really are a Warrior of Dawn, a wielder of a very strange element to say the least. Very personal in its way. Not to say that something like light isn't personal to its users, but you are quite literally pouring your being into your attacks."

Riku soaked in the weight of the man's words. He said the last sentence with a very serious edge in his voice. "I...uh, didn't you say you had someone for me to meet?"

"That's right." The man said. "And since you are quite clearly the Warrior of Dawn, I suppose you should meet her."

"I believe that's my cue!"

Appearing in a flash of light was the new speaker, a shapely, young woman with an air of energy around her. The girl had dark skin colouration, not unlike the skin tone of Xehanort, with long, shining, golden hair that wounds its way down into a braided ponytail, and mischievous silver-coloured eyes, glimmering in the dim light of the platform like flowing mercury. Her manner of dress was strange to say the least; high-heeled boots, long gloves, and a low cut dress all made of the same material as Riku's old Dark Form uniform, and in the same colour scheme. Four pieces of fabric hung down from the hem of the dress, each one shaped like a snow-white wing. Also, on the glove's backhand and the area between her navel and breasts on the dress was a modified version of the Heartless symbol, except gold and black instead of red and black. Her look was finished off with a pair of earrings and a necklace pendant, all of which were shaped like golden suns with eight rays jutting out of the center. She sashayed in an exaggerated manner up to the armoured man and looked at Riku critically.

"So..." She began, her voice had the same mercurial quality of her eyes, smooth and light. "He's my new master?"

The man nodded. "That he would be...uh...say, what do you want to be called this time around?"

The girl put a finger on her chin, looking up at the sky. "Hmm...well, you did say he was a Warrior of Dawn, and it currently looks like Way to the Dawn, correct?" The man nodded again. With mischievous grin matching her eyes, she floated, yes _floated_, off the ground and over to Riku, hovering behind and above the now unnerved boy.

_What is this girl's deal?_ Riku had a very odd feeling about this new visitor. And he didn't like the way she was looking at him. Despite all his suave and cool moves, Riku never had any luck or confidence with the fairer sex, the only girl he had ever felt comfortable around was Kairi. _A better question is... who the hell is she?_

The girl continued to float in the air, slowly circling around Riku, knees bent and toes pointed up. Her look was now more curious than critical, but it still was giving Riku a weird feeling.

Then, the girl flashed Riku a huge grin and tackled him to the ground, hugging him tightly. Riku tried to squirm out of the bear hug, but it was in vain, as the girl tightened her grip and scissored his waist and legs with her own legs.

The armoured stranger watched this exchange for a short while, Riku mumbling and stuttering, the girl squealing like a child, before speaking up. "Um...your name?"

The girl stopped, still hugging Riku from atop, and looked back at the man. "Oh right." She turned back to Riku and cheerily said, "Hello, my name is Dawn, and you are my new master!"

"Okay..." Riku said, still trying to wriggle his way out from under Dawn. "Um...can I ask a question?"

"Sure thing, cutie!" Dawn winked with a slight laugh. Riku blushed from the informal nickname and even the armoured stranger chuckled to himself.

"Uh...don't know how to phrase this but...what are you?"

"Uh-uh-uh." Dawn got up from Riku, waggling her finger in a disapproving manner. She floated away to the edge of the platform, above the blacked-out heart. "I can't tell you that. It would be no fun. Besides, its against the rules."

"Rules? Like a game?"

"Not really." Dawn replied, once more floating around idly. "There's no prize to be had, but I just can't tell you what I am. You have to figure it out on your own, thats just the way it is. And so do your other friends too."

"Other friends?" Riku was getting confused fast, which was often the case on these adventures. He looked over to the armoured figure, hoping to get a sane answer from him. "What is she talking about? Why is she here, in my heart? Why haven't I met her before?"

The armoured man pointed to Xehanort's shattered panel. "Because of him. You're a very spiritually attuned person Riku, even for a Keyblade Master, but there are somethings in this world that even the most spiritual people cannot side-step. The darkness you inherited from Xehanort prevented you from making contact with Dawn, and it would have continued to do so, if it hadn't been destroyed just recently."

Dawn had circled around again, still floating, but clutching onto Riku's arm like he was her prom date. He was doing his best to ignore her. "Recently...? Do you mean the Guardian?"

"Yes. The Guardian was the last remnant of the foul darkness of Xehanort's Heartless. There is still darkness in your heart, to be sure, but nothing equaling the corrupted malice that Xehanort gave you. Josef really did you a favour by destroying the Guardian, otherwise you never would have met Dawn so early."

Riku nodded slowly, trying to make sense of all this. "So I no longer have Xehanort's influence in me." He then mentally added _Instead I have this bizarre floating girl who thinks I'm her soul mate or something._ Switching back to verbal communication, he said, "What does this all mean?"

The answer came from Dawn, who gave him a light love tap. "Can't tell cutie. It's against the rules." Riku rolled his eyes in annoyance. He was already having fun with this girl.

"Don't worry about this now." The armoured man offered. "Just go back and deal with that annoyance called an Immortal."

And with that, the light flitting in from the sky grew brighter, and Riku felt himself rising back up to the real world.

**KHKHKH**

Ed and Al looked up reluctantly from behind their make-shift shelter. Riku had just gone into the drink a few seconds ago, and Josef had been cackling like a moron the entire time. But he had every right to gloat. He had already proven that he could stymie any offence the Elric brothers could muster just by laying down a blanket of suppressive fire. Without Riku, it looked like they were done for...

Finally, the dark-skinned Immortal finally stopped laughing and glanced down on his two foes. "Alright heavy metal dorks, how do you wanna do this? You just wanna surrender and let finish ya off firin' squad style, or would you prefer to go down in blaze of idiotic glory?"

The Elrics stayed silent, standing in a stalwart manner, prepared for battle to flare up again.

Josef just shrugged the silent treatment off. "Meh. Suit yourselves and get ready to die!" He shouldered the massive Key Buster and took aim.

"I'm gone five seconds and you think you have victory in the bag? Man, Dayne was right when he said you were an arrogant bunch?"

"Huh?"

Josef turned around, his eyes joined by Ed and Al's to see an airborne Riku, dripping wet from his voyage into the sea. Without a word, eyes full of malice, Josef took aim at Riku.

"Not this time!" Riku called back with a smile. He skated through the air as quick as he could, powering up Way to the Dawn with a Prominence Razor attack. With one fell slash, Riku had shot past Josef, hacked the Key Buster in half, and left a deep cut in Josef. He then turned back to Ed and said. "Now! Finish him off!"

Ed took no time creating a massive alchemy array with his Keyblade, summoning up from the earth a massive line of fortifications, and cannons, bizarre weaponry that looked like it could only be formed from the awe-inspiring alchemy. Pressing his hands on the back of the center of his creation, Ed unleashed a violent burst of spear, cannonballs, fire, and lightning, which tore into the sky. The alchemical arsenal blasted Josef, smashing and frying him with a savage velocity, before the bombardment quelled. Josef was left, a battered man. Darkness began to peel off him, similar to how the Organization Nobodies began to deteriorate before they died. With one last cackle, Josef's body fell to pieces, crumbling into dark glass and smoke, as a blue crystal heart rose into the sky, shattering itself too.

The trio didn't know what to find more shocking: that Riku somehow survived taking an artillery shell to the chest and a plunge into the night-time ocean, or that Josef had been defeated so quickly.

As Riku landed to the ground, he was greeted with a friendly punch from Edward. "What the hell was that? Where did you go?"

"You know what guys, even I don't know the answer to that one."

**KHKHKH**

Having been advised by Terra to run as far away as possible as fast as possible, the trio from Disney were moving down the endless flight of stairs of Infinity Paradiso, nearly tripping over their own feet due to the speed (but it also may have been due to their over-sized feet). They hadn't heard a single sound of the battle, but Mickey seemed to take Terra's advice to heart, and Donald and Goofy were always willing to follow their King, no matter what.

"Do you really think we should be running, Your Majesty?" Donald wheezed, as the three continued the trek.

"Yeah," Goofy agreed. "Do ya really think he can take on that Creed guy by himself? Shouldn't we help?"

Mickey took a quick glance back before picking up his speed. "I trust Terra's judgment, guys. He should be able to fight totally fine on his own."

Suddenly, a low rumbling was felt in the claustrophobic halls.

"What was that?" Donald shrieked.

Behind the party, a wall came falling down in a roar and shower of dust and debris. Terra came pouring out of the massive hole, groaning in pain, as Creed casually walked through the unnatural formation, a terrible scowl on his face.

"Jeez, here I thought that you might actual pose a challenge." Creed grumbled. Neither participant looked damaged in anyway, except for being a bit dusty. "Why do I even bother getting out of bed..."

Terra wasn't one to just lie down and take it. The enigmatic Keyblader leaped to his feet and proceeded to rush Creed with a triplet of slashes. Creed blocked the first two effortlessly with his forearms, before side-stepping the third attack like a matador. He then spun around to the back of Terra and punched him in the kidneys, earning a grunt of pain from the warrior. Creed then lightly booted Terra in the back, the insulting gesture sending him stumbling down the stairs.

"Guess there is no point in dragging this out any more..." Creed said, assuming his lazy martial arts stance. "How do you four want to go out?"

Mickey was slightly afraid and stunned that his old friend had been easily dispatched by Creed, and Donald and Goofy were empathetically mirroring their King's emotion. Despite this, the three were ready to bring out their weapons as quick as possible, if not for Terra bounding back to his feet as quick as lightning.

"Who says I'm done just yet?" Terra replied, not showing any emotional or physical signs that he had just been schooled by the lazy Immortal. Creed stared dumbly at his opponent.

"This is why I hate you 'never-say-die' types. Not only do you never say die, you never put a decent challenge even in the face of death!"

"Oh, you want a challenge?" Terra broke his battle stance and held up his hand, holding up all five digits. "Currently, I have access to this percentage of my total power. If you want to have a challenge, then why don't I take the factor up by three?"

Creed raised an eyebrow. "Fifteen-percent? Doesn't sound that impressive."

A weak aura of coppery gold light began to form around Terra, appearing and vanishing like a sheet of mist. Terra took his stance again. "I'll let you be the judge of that."

Terra took a step forward, Keyblade raised above his head. Creed readied himself for a one-two combo. He was going to block the slash with his left forearm, then try and crush his throat with a punch. Even just thinking about the effort annoyed him.

But, the best plans of mice and Immortals...

Terra used his step to take to the air, zooming forward with a violent burst of speed. He made a quick slash across Creed's shoulder, the cut barely registering to anyone as it happened so fast. Terra landed on a higher flight of stairs, in a three-point stance, before continuing the assault, surrounding himself with circling crimson fireballs.

"Fire Blazer!"

Charging again, Terra crashed into Creed, fire colliding with the Immortal like a saw blade. The two flew down the stairs, over the heads of the three Disney inhabitants, and crash landing onto a flat landing at the bottom of the flight of stairs.

As the two re-combobulated themselves, Creed noticed something after the last two attacks. His jacket was burned, his skin was singed, and he was cut on the shoulder where Terra had darted over him. A sensation washed over him, a mixture of pain and excitement. He had found an enemy that could pierce his godly Steel Skin! The ability that had kept him unharmed for four-years! For the first time in a long time, his eyes were wide open due to the energetic rush he was getting.

Terra had returned to his other friends, but kept an eye on the now smiling Creed. "Guys," he said to them calmly. "I want you to get going, as quick as you can. I'll hold him off, but I don't want you to get tangled up in the collateral damage."

After seeing what Terra could do, Donald and Goofy wordlessly agreed and hurried past Creed (who could care less about them in compared to Terra). Mickey lingered behind to give one last word of advice.

"Just be careful, old friend." He said, before bounding off to join his companions.

Terra called back as the mouse king began to tromp down the stairs. "Hey, it's me we're talking about!" His eyes then fell back on Creed, who was taking a much more active fighting stance. "So... am I a challenge?"

"I want to see you at a hundred percent." Creed replied, ignoring the question. "Give me everything you got!"

Terra chuckled at the absurd request. "I'm not going to waste that on you."

"Then I'll force you to give me the battle I've always wanted!" Creed took off, focusing on going on an offensive spree, as oppose to playing defence. He wanted this, even if it was going to kill him!

"Rock Breaker!"

A cluster of harder-than-steel spires shot out from the ground, blocking Creed's path. He ran right into the rock formation, hitting it hard but not even damaging the rocks. Terra followed up the trap by running straight at the rocks, slashing them to pieces with his Keyblade, and sending Creed flying to the wall, being pinned by debris.

Terra swung his Keyblade uselessly in the air; he eyed Creed as he painfully got back to his feet. "If you want a challenge so badly, just wait until the Keyblader Masters come here. They'll give you all the fight you want...and then some."

Creed laughed bitterly. "I don't care about that. You have a power I have never seen before. I want to test my mettle against it, go blow-for-blow, fight until neither of us have nothing left! I crave a challenge like men crave good food, and you're like lobster, black truffle, filet mignon, and a rare wine all rolled into one! Those punks couldn't compare to your power, not in a million years!"

Terra silently listened to the rant, soaking in the fiery passion of the normally lazy, reserved Immortal.

With a blank face, Terra raised his Keyblade level with Creed, gathering energy at the tip of the blade, taking the form of a shining white star. "'A million years', huh?" Terra repeated, his voice unsettlingly even. "Well, let me tell you something: in terms of true power, the distance between me and _you_..."

Terra vanished in the blink of an eye, reappearing behind Creed, crouched down and Keyblade pointed into the back of the Immortal. He was holding onto the guard and one of the blade's prong like it was a rifle. "...Is a million years in time! _Catastrophe of Fate!_"

Celestial Guide fired a stream of golden light, fire, and lightning, engulfing Creed and flinging him to the ceiling, which promptly collapsed into an avalanche of rubble. When the blasted body of Creed was totally buried by the ceiling, Terra sealed the beam, and sheathed his Keyblade in quick manner. He had purposely reduced his power from fifteen percent to five, as to not kill Creed. That wasn't his place.

And, as Terra calmly left the sight of battle, Creed was still conscious after being buried in the rubble and torched by the magical stream. He was injured, tired, and angry. Angry that he had probably let the first actual competitive opponent he had ever met in the four years of his existence get away. He hadn't felt that rush of energy, that unrelenting excitement, the feeling that he actually might _die_! He had been robbed of all of that, and swore he would bear this grudge into every battle he took part in.

**KHKHKH**

Sora watched helplessly as Rosa and Rain continued to go at it, violently trying to kill the other person. It had certainly been an intense battle, with Rosa not giving up at all, despite the supposed superiority of strength Rain possessed, and Rosa's history with the Celestial Armour skill. But the will to fight wasn't enough to be the better warrior. Rosa had taken a numerous amount of blows to her body and armour, and currently was trying to block a flurry of strikes from Rain's double arm blades and the whip-like tail.

But Sora only watched the battle with half-interest, fading in and out, as if the fight wasn't happening in front of him. For the first time in all his travels, he felt absolutely useless. He had tried to fight Rosa, stepping in for Rain, and at first he did okay. But then, Rosa turned on some sort of switch and just began to tear into him with such ease, it was like he was a piece of wet rice paper. He was about to die, not that that bothered him, he knew he was constantly putting his life on the line, but it was the fact that he was so helpless; Rosa had dispatched him with such ease, it made him feel like he was a novice with the Keyblade all over again. And, to heap more problems on that, there was the targeting policies of the Immortals. It seemed that recently, everyone but him had been targeted by the Immortals. If it wasn't his friends being attacked, he would feel relieved, but it made him feel weak, ignored, pointless. His power, his importance, his abilities...it all seemed to be shrinking ever slowly on this journey.

_Sora? Sora? Can you hear me?_

_Roxas?_ Sora asked mentally, but he knew that it wasn't. This voice, this internal voice, was that of a woman; calm, strong, and matronly. _Sorry, I should have known..._

_Its alright. I'm just glad that you can finally hear me._

_Wait? Finally? How long have you been trying to talk to me?_ Sora looked up to see Rosa take to the sky. Rain followed quickly and flipped around in mid air, smacking Rosa in the face with the armoured tail. _And who are you exactly._

_I... am a friend. I'm sorry, I wish I could say more._ She did sound truly sorry. Rosa was now bleeding from the face, and was trying to make distance between herself and Rain. She was shooting energy blasts at Rain, who was blocking them with her energy shields while flying forth. _And as for how long... I can't tell you that either. At least not specifically, but I've been trying for over a year_.

_Okay..._ Sora had never been one to trust the voices in his head...with the exception of Roxas (most of the time).

_I do wish I could tell you more. But I can't, its apart of who I am._

Sora was unsure of what kind of person this woman was if she couldn't explain who she was or why she was talking to Sora, but had not written out this stranger yet. As politely as he could, he asked, _Is there something you want to talk about, or did you just want to get in contact with me?_

_Yes._ She replied quickly. _I am apart of you Sora, I am within your inner being, and I can sense the troubles in your heart right now, about your supposed weakness, your lack of importance. You are a very important person, never doubt that for a second! But right now, you've had your time in the sun, you've grown so much over your other adventures, but other people need to grow too. The worlds have a great plan for all your friends, and they need them all at equal strength. Riku, and Kairi, and everyone else must be at your level. Just wait, and you will see the focus of life on you once again._

Rosa had dove down from the sky, performing a stomp midair, and driving Rain to the ground. Before the belligerents hit the earth, Rain whipped her tail again, smashing Rosa in the back and sending her flying again.

_But..._ Sora's interest in the battle piqued again. _I can't just sit on the sides when my friends are fighting like this. I need to help, but I can't do anything helpful. It's eating me up inside..._

_Sora, Rain told you that she had a vendetta with Rosa. She is fighting for her own pride in this fight. Pride is an incredibly important thing to any warrior. Do you remember when Saix kidnapped Kairi? When he refused to let you see her, even after begging at his feet?_ Sora mentally nodded, which the disembodied voice picked up on. _You wanted to defeat Saix with your own hands, didn't you? You wanted revenge for the torture, the humiliation, for denying you from seeing your friend. That was your warrior's pride. If you had never defeated Saix yourself, you never would have gotten that part of yourself back. Well, Rain if fighting for the same thing here. Rosa has humiliated and insulted her and her husband. She needs to defeat Rosa by herself, with as little assistance from anyone else as possible. Yes, it is foolish, but it is a part of being a warrior._

As the stranger's words echoed with Sora's mind, the apparent "battle of pride" continued, with the two female Immortals being forced to a standstill. Rosa was bleeding from several open cuts, on her arms, legs, and face. Even her armour had been split open, with Rain's attacks cutting her that deeply. Rain was a lot better for wear, but still injure. Part of her other-worldly armour had been cracked, mostly along the gauntlets, and there was a nasty cut lining her forehead.

"I suppose, I have no further choice if I finally want to put you down..." Rosa panted, wiping away blood from the corner of her mouth.

Rain gave her a crooked look. "What are you talking about?"

A ghostly white aura began to slowly snake up Rosa's body, the girl now possessing a dark smile. "Have you not been listening to me this entire fight? We're not pulling any punches any more. All of you annoyances will be dealt with by any means necessary!" The aura had now covered all of Rosa's body, pulsing violently. Rain took a step back in fear.

"You couldn't mean... You're going this far?"

"Yep. We're taking something out of your play book!" Rosa spread out her arms, causing a gust of wind to spread across the battlefield. "The Infuse! The ultimate double-edged sword! I'm going to drag you down to hell, even if I have to dive down with you!" She then hurled her head back, laughing like an insane maniac, the win around her picking up into a howling gale, the two sounds mixing together into a villainous cacophony.

Wasting little time, Rain unfolded the wings on her armour into cannon mode, charging energy for her Solar Ray attack. Rosa wasted little time either, swinging her katana in a wide arc, shooting out three golden energy swords. Rain quickly canceled the attack, raising one of her gauntlets and projecting a shield. The swords pierced deep into the gauntlet, forming deep cracks. Rosa kept laughing and firing golden energy swords, slowly shattering the energy barrier. Rain eventually brought both gauntlets up, strengthening the wall, but to no avail. Even with the wall at full power, the swords were slowly tearing it down, and she couldn't counter against the Infused-power Rain.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Rosa cackled psychotically, violently throwing her body around in some sort of sick marionette dance. "That's right! Take it! Take it you useless bitch! Look upon your death! I will shred you of your flesh! Dance in your blood! Watch as your life fades from your eyes and laugh at every minute of it!" She then shrieked, sounding a primal scream of blood lust and insanity.

Rain's wall continued to waver until, it finally gave way. Just suddenly, it shattered, the force of the breaking barrier forcing Rain off balance. Two energy swords came flying her way, piercing her in the left arm and left leg, and forcing her to the ground. The pain of the searing energy blades was nearly enough to negate the Celestial Armour, causing the golden spell to waver in and out for a second.

With her enemy prone and in pain, Rosa screamed again and went in for the kill, her eyes reflecting a terrible madness that Rain saw more clearly with each approaching step. With both hands firmly gripping it, Rosa swung her sword wildly, trying to make the kill as savage as possible.

"Protectga!"

A wall of transparent energy appeared before Rain, blocking the slash. Rosa had swung with such strength, that the power of her blow on the magical wall forced her sliding back. Rain looked behind her, to see Sora holding he Keyblade up, pointing at Rosa and focusing all his energy on the Protect spell.

"Are you okay, Rain?" Sora asked in a weary voice, not moving a muscle less the barricade fail. Rosa screamed again and began to assault the mystical protection with violent strength.

Despite her limbs screaming in silent agony, Rain got to her feet slowly. She clenched her teeth as blood flowed freely from the actually sizzling wounds, the swords having vanished a few seconds ago. "I'll live." She said roughly. The mental strain of the attacks had caused her armour to shatter even further, the fissures spreading all over it. "Thank you Sora, you saved my life."

Sora flashed a weak smile, wincing in pain every time that Rosa struck his spell. "Do you need any help or..."

"No." Rain replied, keeping an eye on the berserk Rosa. The Infuse had done a number on her psyche. "No. I can finish her off by myself. But thank you again."

"Alright." Sora panted. "Alright...I'll let you win your own prideful battle."

Rosa gave the weird statement no mind, as she silently told Sora to be ready to drop the barrier. She had at least one advantage in this fight, that Rosa was clearly descending into rage and madness. She could have simply walked around the barrier, but instead was running into it like a stubborn bull. With this, and one other trump card, Rain hoped it would be enough to finally end this.

Taking the same stance she did when she created the Celestial Armour, Rain suddenly lit up as the apex of a swirling vortex of black and scarlet energy. Pouring all of her remaining strength into the command, she called out to the heavens:

"Final Rose Draw: Scarlet Queen Upon the Sky!"

The energy swirling around her began to shift violently, sinking deeply into her golden, airy armour, which began to slowly repair itself, the rents and cracks fusing together to recreate the flawless, beautiful armour. Then, it began to transform, changing from the golden, astral mail, into a set of physical plate armour. It became glossy black, with dark red highlights all over the gauntlets and greaves. The tail began covered in a violent, blade-like red aura and then underside of the wings lit up with a similar red light, turning the once frail pieces of metal into energized angel wings. Finally, a bar of energy appeared in Rain's right hand, which she gripped and transformed into a pure energy replica of Scarlet Queen.

"Drop it!" She ordered quickly, not wanting to give Rosa a second of an advantage.

Sora did as he was told, and the two women went flying at each other, clashing swords together into a violent force. The shockwave actually caused Sora to roll backwards until he reached a wall. The two then flew off, moving from place to place at a frenetic pace, slashing at one another and blocking each strike. Sora could not keep his eyes off the fight for one moment, as the two Immortals moved at such a breakneck speed, and attacked with such furious might. But, there was a clear difference in combatants. Rosa carried herself with that violent madness that had taken her over since using the Infuse, while Rain attacked with a cold elegance, her face void of emotion.

Within seconds, they had both landed numerous blows on each other, Rosa's blows being deflected by the mythical armour surrounding Rain, while Rosa completely shrugged off any damage she may have taken. The battle was wild, lightning-fast, but there speed and power made it look like they had been fighting for several minutes already.

They locked swords, sparks flying from Rain's weapon of pure energy.

"You'll never beat me." Rosa growled lowly. Blood was now pouring down her face, a crimson mask of madness. "NEVER! Your fancy armour...it can't match to me...to me! Me! HAHA! I hold the power of life and death right now! My life and death, your life and death!"

"Who said I have to beat you?" Rain replied back, trying her hardest to push Rosa off of her. "The thing about the Infuse is, you just have to beat the Infuse... And the rest falls into place."

With her wicked speed, Rain transported into the sky behind Rosa, who twisted around to get a good look at her. All of the energy surrounding Rain's tail and wings instantly vanished, and, in return, her energy sword grew in size, transforming into a massive diamond-shape blade over ten-feet long. Rosa growled like some sort of animal and charged into the air, katana at the ready.

"All of this, Rosa, is finally over!" Rain hefted the massive blade over her head, into the sky, and waited. Waited for her enemy to come. With a single, deciding swing, Scarlet Queen made contact with Rosa, her katana, and her Infuse aura.

"SAVE THE QUEEN!"

What followed was a blinding blast of red and white; a terrible roaring of flame and thunder and machine. It became a massive blanket that threatened to rob Sora of his senses, blocking out all other sight and sound.

And then, it stopped. The light sunk in on itself, the noise fought itself into submission, and all that was left was Rain and Rosa. The former without any armour, battered and bruised, her normal weapon in hand, and victorious, yet bittersweet smile on her face. The latter damaged to all hell, bloody, and broken physically, mentally, and in terms of her weapon, which had snapped clean in half, the hilt part of the katana still uselessly clutched in her hand.

Rain descended gracefully to the ground, landing on both feet cleanly, but wobbling around weakly. Rosa just dropped to the ground with no form or design, just falling like a lifeless doll.

"It's finally over." Rain muttered to herself. She then repeated, louder and to Rosa. "It is finally over. One Immortal gone for good, and your annoyances will no longer be felt by anyone. I don't have to kill you Rosa, the Infuse will tear you apart by itself." With her back turned to her rival, Rain walked away slowly.

But, Rosa was not one to simply roll over and give up, even when facing certain death. With a dire, animalistic strength, Rosa gripped onto her fractured katana, and somehow, made it back to her feet and ran forth. With the last bit of her strength, she got in range of Rain and slashed one last time...

Sora would have shouted something, but between the shock of the battle and the next event, the words never left his throat.

Nor did they have to. For Rain, always attentive and always quick, bent over and turned around, completely dodging the slash of the severed blade, and countered with her own quick slash across Rosa's torso.

Rosa took a few more steps, slowly and without conscious thought. A curtain of blood sprayed into the air, as Scarlet Queen could easily pierce through Rosa's burnt out breastplate. The broken sword dropped from her hands, like a useless toy, shattering even further upon contact with the ground. And, despite all of her bravado and pomp, Rosa went out not with a bang, but with a whimper. Quite literally, falling to her knees, Rosa let out a small, sobbing whimper. Black fissures slowly began to spread across her skin and armour, pulsing open and close like a heartbeat. Her whimpers began to build, as the fissures spread and, before long, Rosa began to fall apart. Her body slowly turned into black dust, pouring into a pile on the ground. From that pile, rose a crystalline heart that soon followed the physical body, dissolving into a fine white powder.

"I didn't want to do that." Rain whispered, sheathing her blade. "I never like taking a life." She then looked back to the pile of black dust, which was already being blown away by the wind. "Even if it a useless life, like yours."

**KHKHKH**

"Don't try and play warrior with me, girl."

Kairi tried to put up a brave front against Kira, Oathkeeper drawn and stance assumed. But she was afraid. Deeply terrified, and Kira knew it. He had just been watching her ever since she had made the challenge, not making a move. Clyde had pulled Allister out of the war zone and was no forcing a potion down his throat.

Kira licked his lips, as if he could taste the fear and apprehension in the air. "I know why you're afraid of me, dear sister." He spouted the last two words with a considerable amount of venom. "You can feel it in you, can't you? The darkness. My darkness!" Kairi took a half-step back. The way he spoke reminded her of some sort of slimy snake, even the way he moved was serpentine. "Its calling to you, its calling because I'm so close to you." With a sudden jolt of movement, Kira galloped over to her, getting directly in her face.

"Embrace it." He whispered, licking his lips again. Kairi was paralyzed. Between Kira's voice, his movements, the fear in the air, and, yes, the darkness slowly crushing down on her heart, making it difficult to breath. "Reject the light. Take the power I have given you, and use it!"

She tried her damnedest to avoid his gaze, unable to physically move her body. She had to fight for each breath, which had now become shallow and ragged. Oathkeeper was shaking in her fight hand, as she forced herself to look down at the ground, away from the madness in Kira's eyes.

His impatience getting the better of him again, Kira jumped backwards with a snarl. "Fine, if you won't willing give yourself to me, I'll simply orchestrate your downfall! Terror Geist!"

A black and blue aura of darkness, inky flames of hell, rose up around Kira. The shadowy energy began to shift around in shape, becoming the maw of some sort of twisted demon. For some reason, it drew Kairi's eyes like a magnet. The nightmarish shroud turning Kira into more of a devil than ever; a terrifying scene of dark visions, inhuman sounds, and an abyssal figure named Kira.

Then, it hit her.

Like a knife twisting deep inside her, Kairi gasped in pain, falling down to her knees, Oathkeeper falling away from her grasp. She knew what was causing her pain, it was the darkness. Kira's darkness. The one he had infected her with back on Destiny Islands. It had been a long time since she had felt it this strong; twisting and boring deep in her being, trying to destroy everything that she was. The monstrous fiend wrapped in shadows before her and the malevolent imp twisting deep inside her, both conspiring to defeat her, and both entrapping her into this desolate darkness. She could feel a battle in her, this unwanted force battling her own inner light, trying to smother it with all its wicked might. And as determined as her recently discovered light seemed to be, it didn't seem able to win without it's mistress's own confidence.

Kira could see the pained expression on Kairi's face, seemingly seeing inside her and seeing this inner struggle between the foreign darkness and inner light. It put a sick smile on his face. "That's it, that's it!" He laughed, the demonic visage of Terror Geist matching the fiendish smile. "Fall to the darkness! The light has failed the Radiant Garden, so let the two remaining heirs form a better kingdom, one steeped in the grand darkness!"

Kairi was fading fast, having fallen down completely against the ground. _I can't...can't hold on any longer._ She was too tired to fight. Too tired and too angry; she hadn't even been able to face Kira one-on-one like a real warrior would have. Why did she even come on this journey? _Sora... Sora, I'm sorry._

_Damn it!_ A voice resonated deep in her again. The same voice that forced her to take action. _This isn't what a Keyblade Warrior does! They do not wallow in fear like some small child!_

Still unsure of who this voice was or where it came from, Kairi gave a half-hearted response. _I'm not a Keyblade Warrior though. I'm just a little girl who's only good at playing damsel-in-distress. I'm weak..._

_You're not weak! Weakling do not get Keyblades! Weaklings do not gain powers as strong as the light!_

_But what good is all that if I can't even stand up to Kira. Stand up to my fears at all._

_That's because you're being polluted by the unnatural darkness in your heart. Darkness may be one of the heart's components, but in your rare heart, it is like a poison, especially the evil Kira has infected you with! You have the power, deep within you, to banish this evil!_

The external world was starting to fade in Kairi's view. Whether it was due to the darkness or to her conversation with the strange voice. _How? How? All I hear nowadays are esoteric concepts and even more esoteric ways of accomplishing them. I'm tired of it! I want some answers damn it! How and Why?_ The pain she was feeling was driving her frustration to unnatural levels for her.

_Why? Because this is your story. No matter what you think of yourself, you are one of the twelve most important people in all the Realms at this point, and for a time after this point. If you fail now, then all is lost._ The voice then stopped for a moment. _And, if you won't do it for this, or for yourself, then do it for Sora._

_Sora..._ He wouldn't give up. Kairi knew that. Even by himself, at the most hopeless of moments, Sora always continued on with his mission. He never stopped, and she had to admire his perseverance, even if it seemed foolhardy at times. She had to channel that trait of admiration. She then turned back to the voice. _Who are you?_

_I..._ The voice seemed hesitant for the first time. _I am your legacy. Your heirloom. Your light. Now, I believe you asked me "How". Well, I need you to take your strength, take it in your hands, and then become one with your power._

"Okay..." Kairi said in a hoarse whisper. Under the dark gravitations of Kira's spell, she lifted her arm up and threw it out in front of her, fingering at the keychain of Oathkeeper, the charm she had made for Sora what seemed like a million years ago. She slowly dragged it forward, until the hilt was within her grasp. "My strength and my power..." One more push and she clutched Oathkeeper like a lifeline. She closed her eyes, still feeling the darkness gnawing away within her, and focused. She focused on how much she had grown over the past little while, how much she learned about herself, on her friends, old and new, and on Sora. She focused her entire being on those two things. Her strength. Her power.

"My light."

Within the instant she uttered those two words, the pain, the fear, the sensation of the darkness squirming deep in her vanished. It was expelled, exorcised, and replaced with a sensation of empowerment, warmth, and determination. All these things, all her feelings, came out in a single rush of golden light. A blast of holy energy covering her body, and reaching all the way to the heavens. Kira's aura fell as he cringed away, while Clyde and the half-conscious Allister watched their Princess in awe.

Kira let loose a reptilian rasp. "The light. It burns!"

"Rumo vilg..." Allister muttered wearily.

"Yeah." Clyde returned. "You can say that again."

The pillar receded, pulling all the energy back into a simple golden glow around Oathkeeper. The fear and terror in Kairi had vanished, letting the confident warrior in her shine through once again. She held Oathkeeper aloft and coolly eyed Kira, who was the opposite of his former sister. Seething with anger and frustration.

"You...you dispelled the darkness. MY darkness!" Kira had never been a totally sane being, but now, his demeanor had fractured. His face gave off a wild look, he was sweating, grinding his teeth, and one of his eyes had developed a nervous tick. "How could a weakling like you and your light defeat it?"

"We may possess the powers of light and darkness. But light and darkness we are not." Kairi replied. "In reality, they are equal in strength. But my light, trumps your darkness."

Beyond the frustration, Kira was astonished. He had failed to break this girl. This girl who wasn't a warrior, wasn't experienced with the light, had beaten him! This weakling of a girl, his inferior in every way, had just defeated him.

"I-I..." At a loss for words, Kira vented his rage, screaming like a lunatic and throwing dark fireballs around the area. Kairi just stood her ground, the flames not coming close to her, Allister or Clyde. When Kira finally regained his composure, he continued. "I will not let myself be defeated by a little girl such as you! If you won't join me then, today the royal line will end with us! Circle of Guilt!"

"Reflega!"

The flames of darkness Kira unleashed made a mad dash for Kairi, but ran into the honey-combed wall and were sent back to Kira at the same. The fireballs burst into a sea of blackness when they came in contact with their master. Shrugging off his own attack, Kira charged through the wash of flames, screaming and wildly swinging his blade. Kairi easily dodged the savage, unfocused attack, and strafed wide.

With Kira's back to her, she fired a Firaga spell, the single huge fireball blasting into the Immortal. Kairi noticed something about her spell, something different from Sora's or anyone else's Fire spell. It was more golden yellow than red, burning with a brilliant shine and a type of beautiful strength.

Kira snarled and thrashed around while engulfed in the shining flame, hurling his smoldering cape to the ground and violently turning around. He charged again, bleeding and burning, armour cracking like his once eerily calm composure. Kairi dodged, blocked, and countered his sword swings, eventually shooting another jet of flames into Kira's face. In a literal blind rage, Kira smashed his hand into the ground, creating a light shockwave and sending Kairi jumping away into the sky.

"Judgment of Hades!"

His right arm shimmering with black energy, his entire sword transformed into a large scythe made of condensed black energy. With his great reach, Kira managed to get within a lethal distance of Kairi. She ineffectively tried to block the massive weapon, but could only keep it at bay for a short time. Tired of the game of cat and mouse, Kira went airborne as well, swinging the scythe in a wide arc, but missing his target, as Kairi had reached the ground, using a Fire spell as propulsion.

With Kira stuck in the air for the time be, Kairi took quick stock of the situation and started to reach deep inside of her, deep inside her light, and, for the first time since discovering it, started to fully unlocked its true potential.

"Radiant Sabre!"

Flicks of light began to appear inside the gap between the bars that formed Oathkeeper. Soon, the light became one solid block of light energy, which started to swirl in all directions, licking around the bars containing it. Soon, the light spiraled out an around, engulfing the Keyblade in an aura shaped like a massive double-edged sword.

Still blinded by fury, Kira swung down with his massive reach, only to meet the empowered Keyblade. The shining blade cut through the dark scythe, literally peeling away Kira's darkness until only his bastard sword remained. The backlash of the shadowy energy hit Kira, slicing up his right arm and dropping him in pain.

Getting up from his crumpled state, Kira eyed clearly for the first time, the shining Radiant Sabre. "That light... how I hate it." Kira snarled through bated breath. Without another word, he charged again, Kairi meeting the clash head on and dueling one-on-one with the incensed Immortal.

The Radiant Sabre Oathkeeper tore deep into the dark steel of Kira's blade, while also deflecting any offense Kira could muster. Pushed into a corner, Kira tried to defend from his sister's increasingly powerful assault, but unable to fully repel her strikes. Every time the blades came together, a large spark of light illuminated between the two combatants, causing Kira to wince, from his hatred of the element, and causing him to become more frustrated and angry. The angrier and more frustrated he got, the sloppier his swordsmanship got.

And so the quick cycle continued its effects on Kira, before Kairi completely had the fight under her control, dictating every move the pair made, while remaining on a perfect offense. Before long, she finally decided to end this, slicing off the top of Kira's club-like sword with one swift chop, and then batting the weapon out of Kira's hands and away. With his weapon wrenched away from him, Kira became a deer-in-the-headlights, unable to react as quick as he normally could. Kairi saw this and quickly ducked low and slashed her energized Keyblade across Kira's chest, biting deep into the armour and drawing a long river of blood.

The light emanating from Oathkeeper finally faded away, as Kairi turned to the Immortal that used to be her brother. He was in a pathetic state, wheezing in pain on his knees. He was broken, mentally and physically, with his armour cracking away. Black blood oozed out of a dozen different wounds. Turning around, Kairi saw a Corridor of Darkness summoned by Kira, who was inching his way to the portal.

Before finishing his crawl through the Corridor, Kira turned his head back to the stationary Kairi. Through a bloody mouth, Kira spat out another epitaph of hate. "This isn't over..." He hissed again, the stoic Kairi unwavering at the display of malice. "No. Not over. The only difference is, this time I tried to foster the darkness in you. But next time, no more... I will crush that weak spark of light within your heart." He then crawled entirely into the portal and vanished back to his home world, to lick his wounds and fight another day.

Staring as the darkness vanishing into the air, Kairi reflected back to the dream she had following Amestris. In the darkness vanishing in the sun, she could see the dark knight and the light knight, but she also saw Kira and herself. When the portal wound down into shadowy wisps, Kairi spoke, clearly and confidently. "I'll be waiting." She said, before adding, "Brother."

**KHKHKH**

Cassius continued to hammer Dayne with punch after vicious punch.

It had been the pace of the battle since Dayne had stripped Cassius of his sword. With this speed, strength, and the ferocity of his attacks, Cassius had been in a position of constant domination. In fact, Dayne expected that Cassius had entered this fight with the clear intention of dominating him, to prove his superiority as it were.

And try as he might, Dayne could not shake this pattern. No matter what he tried, the effort was quickly stymied, quashed, and beaten down as Cassius continued to deal death in ever single strike. Dayne's clothes had become tatters, his body wounded and burned all over, quickly healing, only to be burned and wounded again. He was still physically strong, but his body could only keep up this marathon pace for a little while longer. And then, he would completely burn out.

Trying again to shift the tides of battle, Dayne began to weave his way between the punches, like a boxer (ironic, given the fighting style of his opponent). Each jab and hook and uppercut came with the same lightning speed as always, fists ablaze with hellish fire. The punches past his eyes and body in blurs, but he could still feel the heat flashing up near his body. Waiting, every patiently, Dayne kept loose until his moment came.

After stumbling over a piece of rumble, Dayne look to be off kilter and Cassius decided to finish this with a full length knock out blow. Even with his balance thrown off, Dayne saw the perfect chance now. He ducked the over extending punch, sliding under and behind Cassius. Spinning about for an overhand executioner's blow.

"Dragon Sledge!"

But, once again, Cassius seemed to be two steps ahead as he boldly proclaimed. Spinning 180-degrees backwards, Cassius met Dayne's slash with a blazing double-handed sledge blow, the flames taking the shape of an oriental dragon's head. It made contact with the hilt of High Streak, tossing the sword over his head and backwards, and then passed his guard and smashed him in the stomach. Cassius followed the momentum of his attack, sliding along the ground, as he pushed Dayne farther back, the flaming fists drilling into Dayne's stomach.

With an upward release, Cassius sent Dayne flying away once again. But, the silver-blue-haired warrior was anything but a quitter, bounding up like a spring nearly the instant he hit the ground. He rolled away to re-obtain High Streak and strafed away from his adversary. Cassius met the theatrics with a smile and a chuckle.

"Wonderful." The fiery aura around Cassius seemed to ebb and flow when he released his emotions outwardly. Right now, it was blazing like the sun. "Wonderful indeed. It seems that your warrior's spirit is as resilient and repairable as your very body." He pounded one fist into the palm of his other hand. "It had been far too long since I've had a fight like this."

Something came to light in Dayne's mind as Cassius mused over the battle. With a suspicious look and tone, he asked, "Why are you really here? Why fight me and why now?"

The question came as a surprise to Cassius. A pleasant surprise. "Well, you figured it out. And faster than I thought too." Cassius turned his gaze to the city in the distance. "Only a coward would take an apple when they could take the entire orchard."

"Bastard! They are not apart of this! None of them! This is between you and me!"

Amused, Cassius roared with laughter again. "Yes, this battle is between you and me... But I have other issues with your compatriots." Cassius then turned away, shutting his eyes to focus on the flaming energy around him. With a sweet, violent tone, Cassius spoke again. "Time to draw the moths into my flame."

Extending his arms to the sky, the dam broke. Exploding out from his energy aura, a wave of flame and heat erupted, the energy washing around Cassius, Dayne, and the surroundings. Swirling about into a chaotic maelstrom, Dayne lost all sight of his enemy inside the burning hell, except for a shadow thrown into demonic proportions by the abundance of light and the deluding effect of the heat. The firestorm continued to rage and rupture and swirl, violently encompassing its victim inside its (relativity) calm eye.

Then, as sudden as it came, the artificial storm climaxed, hit a zenith, and exploded outward; roaring flames mixing with Cassius's dark laugh.

**KHKHKH**

"You sure you're going to be okay?" Kairi asked, finishing her curative duties on Allister. Between a combination of potions, Cure spells, and old fashioned bandages, the wounded swordsman was back to perfect condition, even if he was a little shaky.

"I'm made of fairly stern stuff." Allister replied, stretching slightly. "It's going to take more than that to put me on the shelf, I tell you. No need to be concerned."

"Yes there is!" Kairi replied, smacking him on a bandaged up arm, before panicking silently at the pained Allister, and the two sharing silent apologies. "I... you put your life on the line. You don't even know me and you almost end up killing yourself. Too many people have done that for me before... It's always the same. I'm tired of being damsel-in-distress..."

"Aw... That's sweet." Clyde said with a saccharine sweet smile on his face. "You did all that because you're in love with Sora." Kairi protested but the green-haired gunner would hear none of it. "Yep, yep. You are so, my lady. Sora spent all that time running after you, risking his life, and now you don't want him to get himself killed while gallivanting about. It all spells L-O-V-E to me."

Kairi turned red as a beet at Clyde's comment and the two Guardians burst out laughing. "Aw, teenage love." Allister noted. "To experience it again... Or at all..." He then added in a mumbled voice. "For we had fairly dead social lives as teenagers." Clyde nodded in exaggeration.

"Kairi!"

The trio turned to see Sora and Rain, slightly healed up from their battle (but still pretty battered, considering the ferocity), running towards there location.

"What happened to you two?" Kairi gasped.

"Well... I could ask the same about him..." Sora began, pointing at the Al-Bhed behind her. "Erm... Allister? Right?"

"Mhmm." Allister confirmed.

"Lemme guess," Rain ventured quickly. "You three ran into an Immortal? Us too."

Clyde turned away and began to pontificate like only he could. "Two Immortal attacks, two aggressive Immortal attacks, in one day... Something is rotten in the state of Denmark... whatever _that_ is."

The remainder of the group stared blankly at the absent-minded mumbling, with Allister turning away in embarrassment, sadly being use to this behaviour from Clyde. "What'd I do now?" Clyde asked, clueless to their detached expressions.

Before anyone could respond, the world suddenly became awash in an orange and red glow. The quintet turned about to see a towering pillar of flame rise up from outside the city, followed by a wave of immensely powerful spiritual energy.

Sora (and the rest of his party) had become familiar with this brand of spirit energy. "Another one?"

Rain turned to Allister and Clyde, and gave the groups departure. "We have to go." She said quickly, with a slight bow. Mentally, she added in fear _Dayne...what have you gotten yourself into now?_

**To Be Continued**

**Chapter Preview**

_Cassius: (Laughing) That's it Dayne! Show me the power of a REAL Immortal!_

_Dayne: Damn it! Why are you here? This is my fight. My personal business!_

_Sora: Chill out man._

_Kairi: We're not going to abandon you right now. Not after everything you and Rain have given us. We'll fight until the bitter end. Together._

_Dayne: This was suppose to be my fight, my burden. But now... I never wanted to inflict this onto you._

_Next Chapter: A true fight to the death! **Genesis of Destiny 28: Rain of Fire!**_

Cassius: That's it, that's it! All of you come at me with your entire beings! One last movement before we reach the End!


	28. Rain of Fire

_(Angela is still texting using Angelo's cell phone, while Angelo stands to the side, scratching a half-grown beard)_

_Angelo: Yeah, remember when she said last chapter that she would be texting the girls saved on my phone's memory? Well, she's been doing it for the past SIX WEEKS!!!_

_Angela: By the way, that beard you're growing is disgusting!_

_Angelo: It's called a playoff beard you annoying, aggravating fracture of my personality! The Vancouver Canucks are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year and its their best chance at the Cup in years! I'm not gonna jeopardize their chance to win Lord Stanley's Cup for THE FIRST TIME EVER by not supplying them with the necessary amount of mojo!_

_Anyway, I wanted to get this chapter up earlier but I've had three papers for school to write in the past little while, and my finals are still ongoing. I actually blew off studying for my history finals to finish writing this. I also realized that around a month ago was the 2-Year-Anniversary of GOD, which is kind of sad that this has existed for two years and I'm not even at thirty chapters...Well I was inactive for what? Nine months at one point. Anyways, I should have more time to write, because as of the 27th, I will be finished school for an indefinite period of time._

_Also, I would like to thank the following people who reviewed GOD since the last chapter posted **ShireFolk, Island-style-girl, Craxuan, Plutos, RaiOokami** and **Darth Obnoxious**. It is definitely a rarity for me to get six different reviewers in a period between two chapters, so I want to thank all you people for taking the time out and review this story. I look forward to hearing from all of you again, and from hearing from any newcomers. Remember, it will only take five minutes for you to make a sad, nerdy KH fan feel good about himself._

_Anyways...onto this chapter, which I don't think I need to hype up any more than I already have. Read it and enjoy!_

Chapter 28: Rain of Fire

"We've got to go. Now." Rain said firmly to Sora and Kairi. The trio nodded in agreement, and made a move to head off, but were stopped by Allister.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold up guys." Allister said, waving his arms to be an extra attention magnet. Clyde was fishing around in his coat and withdrew two yellow and red vials of liquid.

"Elixirs?" Sora questioned, as Clyde passed them out to him and Rain.

"Right you are my spike-headed friend." Clyde said. "You see, Kairi is doing alright in terms of damage and energy, but you two are fairly smashed up." Rain and Sora had to agree, Rosa had ripped into them with feral strength, and they had to fight back with the same kind of power. Rain, having fought the majority of the battle, was especially banged up. "These puppies should get you back to fightin' shape."

Wordlessly, Sora and Rain quickly downed the tonic, letting its curative powers go to work. Within seconds, their few remaining wounds patched themselves up quickly and they could feel their energy shoot right back up. Rain then turned to Allister.

"What about you two?" She asked.

Allister was putting his clothes back on, doing his best not to do aggravate his injuries. "Well, as much as we would like to come and join you two." He explained quickly. "But I doubt we were the only ones to see that huge plume of fire. Me and Clyde have to run distraction, make sure no one put their noses in your business."

"Okay." Sora nodded. "We'll try and take care of this as quickly as we can."

"Take however long you want." Allister was collecting his swords and Clyde was pacing back and forth, talking away on a cell phone, apparently giving someone orders. "Just remember two things: be safe, and don't die." Before leaving, Allister gave a quick bow to Kairi and then bolted off, Clyde noticing and running at his partner's heels.

Sora chuckled to himself, drawing a glare from Kairi. "What's so funny?"

"I dunno. Mostly you not getting uppity about Allister's royal treatment."

"Normally I would be peeved." She admitted through a closed mouth. "But we have too much on our hands at this point, right Rain?"

The two checked behind their shoulders, where Rain was, only to see that she was gone. Scouting the horizon, they saw the woman half-running, half-teleporting towards the pillar of flame. Without another word, the two Keyblade Masters bolted forward in a Quick Run.

* * *

Dayne was in hell.

That was the only apt way to describe the situation. Cassius's prison of flame had created a hell on earth for all its inmates. Covering forty-square feet in diameter, stretching ten-feet into the sky, and topped with the walls of flame collapsing over into a dome, the chamber of fire was a chamber of death. Flickering flames, sweltering and oppressive heat, and an overruling demon that was the cylindrical pen of heat and fire.

But Dayne ignored this, or did his best to at any rate. Cassius made it abundantly clear as to the purpose of this magic. It was not to keep anyone in or out, rather, it was a source of attraction. He wanted to take everyone out in a single blow; Dayne, Rain, Sora, and Kairi. He was not about to let that happen. The sight of the flames, the feeling of the heat had put all of his warrior instinct's into overdrive, and all of instincts told him to run Cassius down.

"It seem I've finally brought the old you out." Cassius was busy trying to fend off a rapid succession of horizontal slashes, leveled at his chest, with his gauntlets. High Streak's motor was running at high speeds, leaving deep gouges in the thick iron armour, even drawing blood at some points. Suddenly, he stopped backing off, and snatched the blade with his left hand. "I like it!"

Before Cassius could do anything, Dayne quickly charged his blade with electricity, sending a strong current up the sword and into Cassius's gauntlet. Snakes of lightning snapped off the blade and struck Cassius in the chest, causing him to roar in pain and lash backwards. Dayne kicked him in the gut to complete the separation, the momentum forced Dayne backwards while Cassius went stumbling, back first, into the curtain of fire. Dayne was pleasantly surprised to see Cassius howl in anguish, as his own flames ate at his back.

"I thought you paid attention to me! You should know that the old Dayne is long gone." Dayne charged up with energy, giving the throttle of High Streak a few pumps. Cassius pulled himself off the curtain, and went barreling forth. "Right now, I'm all new for your enjoyment! Prism Chain Arts, Striking Style: Blade Barrage!"

Swinging his blade rapidly, Dayne unleashed several curved blade beams of blue energy, which all caught Cassius, smashing into him with a sick brutality, each one causing an explosion of blood. Staggering slightly, Cassius stopped his charge and fire back with spinning bullets of flame, which Dayne blocked with the flat of his blade.

While Dayne was distracted by the fire arrows, Cassius used his free hand to gather a large orb of fire. Thrusting his palm outwards, launching the collected fire and transforming it into a serpent-shaped stream of flame. With no time to react, Dayne was caught by the full force of the flamethrower. The serpent plumed outward on contact, engulfing Dayne in a huge fireball. To his credit, he tried to ignore the pain and move forward, but the speed the flame serpent was traveling at was pushing him back, he also only let out a few pained grunts, as to not give Cassius any satisfaction. As the flames started to die, Cassius followed up with a sliding face-palm attack, throwing Dayne to the ground.

After being introduced to so much flame, Dayne's clothing were in a state of disrepair. Which was amazing given that all of his clothings were fireproof and magically reinforced. Both his pant legs were burned, the right up past his ankle, the left all the way to the knee. His shirt and vest were riddled with holes, and his jacket had taken a major beating, now only covering a small portion of his back and right shoulder. Despite the intensity of Cassius's flames and attacks, Dayne sprung back to his feet and charged right back into battle.

With reckless abandon, Dayne threw High Streak at Cassius's head. The Immortal leader easily dodged the attack, but was unaware that the whirling blade was a feint. Dayne drove both his fists, crackling with energy, into Cassius's ribs.

"Prism Chain Arts, Thundaga Style: Dragon Lightning Cannon!"

Intending on firing the dragon-shaped stream of electricity at point-blank, Dayne pushed his pulsating purple fists out even farther. The attack came, firing the purple energy directly at Cassius's sides and shoulders.

Despite the intense pain from the strike, Cassius cackled fiendishly. "Ha! You think this is going to put me away. Amateur!" Cassius shifted his body, so that the Chain Art was striking him in the chest now – his shoulder area badly singed by the lightning blast – seemingly unaffected by the attack. "Let me show you how to end a fight quickly. Soul of Fire!"

Suddenly, jets of fire began to shoot up from the ground, spinning around Cassius like a rapid-speed tornado! Within seconds, Cassius was covered by the flaming whirlwind, and Dayne's attack was no longer hitting Cassius, now harmlessly bouncing off the flames. Despite this, Dayne gritted his teeth and pumped in more energy into his attack, trying to penetrate the makeshift shield.

Suddenly, a wave of energy erupted from the center of the spinning flames. Instantly, the flames shot outward in all directions, pouncing towards Dayne. What's more, Dayne's own attack was bounced back in the expanding flames. Wide-eyed and shocked, Dayne could only lean back slightly as the flames washed over him, and his own super-charged attack rebounded into him.

The pain was unbearable. Fire scorching at every exposed area of his skin, and lightning coursing through his body, as he was flung backwards. And then, he hit the wall of flames surrounding the battlefield. His body jerked and shuddered in a violent manner, as the rippling flames burned away the remainder of his jacket and the back of his shirt. His body's pained thrashing was finally enough to un-stick him from the wall, as he fell in a barely conscious heap.

Dayne's eyes growing heavy from the savage beating, all he could do was listen to the crackling flames, footstep drawing nearer, and Cassius's mocking laughter.

* * *

Sora and Kairi approached where Rain had stopped short. Of course, it wasn't hard to miss a ten foot pillar of flame, so following Rain wasn't exactly a necessary thing. All three of them approached the towering inferno, in awe at the sight, and unsure as to what to do next. Rain was trying to figure how to get through the flames, already ruling out teleporting, as she had no idea what was on the other side of the fire.

Sora knew from Roxas's memories that Axel had the ability to create rings of fire that were around eight or so feet high. But height wasn't the jaw-dropping quality of the prison before them. Axel's flames only covered a small distance, but up close to this tower, Sora could barely see where it started to curve.

"This is..." He began, unsure of what to say.

"Cassius." Rain replied quickly. She had been staring directly into the curtain for the longest time, seemingly ignoring the heat, light, and smoke coming off it.

"He's already fighting us directly?" Sora asked, stunned.

"Cassius is not the type to sit around at wait. Especially when we've been thoroughly humiliating and defeating his subordinates on a regular basis." Rain raised a hand to the flames for some reason, her face trying to discern a way into the blaze. "Do you think we could pass through this if you two used the Reflect spell?"

Kairi shook her head. "I don't think that would work. Reflect is more of a temporary measure, only working for a few seconds. We could try to use it repeatedly, but it would drain our magic. Plus we don't know how thick the wall is. We could run out of magic halfway through it and end up getting burned to a crisp."

Sora saw the look on Rain's face and spoke up too. "Protect and Shell won't work either. They last for a long time, but they only reduce the damage we take, not completely neutralize it."

Rain growled in frustration, mentally going through the spells that Sora and Kairi could cast and coming to a block every time. Water would do nothing, nor would Blizzard. Aero, Haste, Slow, Gravity, Gaia. Nothing would work!

Her frustrating train of thought was derailed by Sora in an instant. "Rain." He said. "What about your Scarlet Shield move?"

"Shield of the Scarlet Flowers." Kairi corrected softly.

"Yeah, anyways," Sora continued on, "what if you use that? If I remember the move right, it disintegrates whatever it touches. With the shield up, we can all dash behind it as quickly as possible. We should be able to outrun the flames and get through quick enough."

Rain turned around the three looked at each other. The plan was very risky to say the least, if they stumbled or the wall proved to be too thick, then they would all burn alive. But right now, Dayne was in danger of being destroyed by a madman. They had to risk it all to save him.

"Okay." She conceded. The group then filed up into a triangular formation, Rain at the front. "But if you feel unsafe or unsure about what will happen, don't hesitate to cast Reflect or Shell. And if the shield starts to fail, grab onto me and I will try and teleport all of us back." The two teens nodded, and Rain began to wildly throw her arm around in the air, creating a symbol through energy trails.

"7 Rose Draw, No. 5: Shield of the Scarlet Flowers!" The red energy barrier formed in front of Rain, covering the space that Sora and Kairi also occupied.

Taking a deep breath, the three broke out into a made dash, breaking the cusp of flame and crossing the fiery Rubicon.

* * *

"I've never been on to disparage either light or darkness," Cassius sneered at the down Dayne. "But if this is the sorry condition that has befallen you for basking in the light for so long, then I suppose the light is truly inferior." Dayne could only grunt lightly in response, his battered body stirring lightly. Cassius gave a wolf-like grin and began to stomp on Dayne with his large armoured boots, crashing down on Dayne's back, shoulder and collarbone.

The grin on Cassius's face turned from sadistic to disappointment, as Dayne's prone body stopped moving again, even his wounds weren't healing. "Come on." He said. "Come on!" Again, harsher this time. He began to stomp on Dayne again, trying to warrant a reaction but got nothing. He then kicked Dayne square in the jaw, letting blood and spittle fly and causing the warrior to turn over on his back, groaning in pain.

"Come on! Do something! Heal your wounds, draw your gun, retrieve your sword, use a Chain Art, shine some of your wit upon me. Do something! Anything!" He roared in anger, stomping down with all of might, the boot's sole crashing onto Dayne's sternum. This time, the attack got a reaction, with a sickening crack coming from Dayne's sternum, and a pained cry rising from Dayne.

"I haven't seen active field duty for fifty years, and then you suddenly show up, giving me reason to finally draw my sword and face the opponent head on...and I get this. This sniveling, cowardly weakling who can only break my sword. I come searching for the only person I've ever known who can match me in combat, the only being other than me that may be described as "perfect"...and I get this!"

With no pomp or circumstance, Cassius snatched Dayne up by the neck, picking him up with ease. Fire flared up around his right fist.

Fortunately for Dayne, his foe never got the chance to give him a skull-shattering punch, as two unknown projectiles came flying from behind Cassius, colliding into his back. The Immortal leader arched forward, grunting in pain. Dayne dropped from his grip and steam rose off of Cassius's back.

Cassius whipped around, and Dayne craned his neck to get a view of the attackers as well. It was Sora, Kairi, and Rain!

While Dayne's beaten face showed fear, Cassius gave another sly wolf-like grin. "Like moths to a flame...." He muttered to himself.

Sora and Kairi made no motion that they heard him, instantly leveling Keyblades at their antagonist.

"Blizzaga!" Sora casted.

"Waterga!" Kairi called out.

A burst of compressed water and a large hunk of ice shot from Oathkeeper and Oblivion, flying at their target and hitting him square in the face. The Immortal reared back in pain, steam rising off of his super-heat conductor of a body.

Rain, anger in her eyes, lunged forward, warping away after the first step and appearing behind Cassius, raking Scarlet Queen into Cassius's back. The staggering fiend thrashed wildly at his assailant, but she simply teleported again, re-appearing and slamming her thin blade into the muscular frame of her former leader.

Sora and Kairi moved around the lightning-fast skirmished to get to Dayne, who still had the look of fear on his face and in his eyes.

"Dayne, Dayne!" Kairi began to shake and jostle her bodyguard. To her, it looked like the warrior was catatonic. She rummaged through her side pouch for one of the elixirs Clyde gave her. When she procured the tincture, she tried her best to force feed it to Dayne. "Come on...He's in bad shape." She said back to Sora, unaware he could still hear. When the elixir appeared to have no effect on him, she quickly cast Curaga, the green light washing over the Immortal's body and repaired some of the insane amount of damage done to his body.

"Kairi," Sora said apprehensively. "We can't do anymore for him. We should help Rain and heal him after we beat Cassius."

"Okay," she said half-heartedly. With one last look at the downed warrior, she cast another spell, this time causing a blue clock to appear under her, its hands moving forward extremely fast. With the Haste spell complete, Kairi – complete with blue aura – rapidly dashed into the war, joining Rain's assault on Cassius.

Sora was about to cast his own Haste spell, but he was stopped when he heard Dayne's voice croak at him.

"Sora..." The warrior said in pain. "Sora...you..." He was trying to warn him, but Sora just thought he was trying to fire another insult at him.

"Hey!" Sora shot back at him. "I know this fight is important to you, but you're dieing! You need our help! Cool off and we'll handle it.

The Keyblade Master quickly cast the Haste spell and joined the fight, leaving an even more worried Dayne to lie uselessly on the ground.

_No, you fool..._ Dayne thought. Sora was engaging Cassius directly, backing away from a series of rapid jabs with his enhanced speed. _Get out while you can. Run! Leave me to die and run! You can't beat him._

With Sora and Kairi's magically amped up speed and Rain's ability to teleport, they managed to make Cassius look like a fool in combat. All of his attacks were easily dodged, and he roared for blood constantly, making him look more like a berserking idiot than the suave, competent general he was when he faced Dayne. While crossing the fire barrier, Rain had informed the others about Cassius's "Perfect Soul" and, as such, they all knew they had to take him out as quickly as possible.

Right now, they were accomplishing that with constant quick slashes from their weapons and Kairi and Sora's Blizzard and Water spells. But the strange thing was, even though the spells only seemed to harmlessly bounce off Cassius and create steam, and the sword slashes were only glancing blows, very rarely drawing blood and never cutting too deep, he seemed that he was completely overwhelmed by the attacks, not trying to fight back or using his flames.

Whatever the case, the trio wasn't done yet. They back away from the thoroughly beaten Cassius in a lose triangle formation and decided to take their game to another level.

Using Dayne's lessons on magic, Sora and Kairi both concentrated unleashed spell variations they had been tinkering with.

Sora felt the chill of ice rise through his Keyblade, snaking up his arm, and letting the icy feeling wash over his body. He then slashed Oblivion through the air, unleashing a pale blue wave of energy.

"Exploding Blizzaga!"

The wave hit Cassius, and instantly erupted into a cluster of ice crystals. Some were rising from a film of ice that had formed on Cassius's body, while others were simply spikes of ice that had formed and lodged themselves into Cassius's flesh. They quickly broke apart and thawed, but the damage had been done, and now Kairi was readying her spell.

Kairi sank back to her memories of the island. The crashing waves along the shoreline, the smell of the salt water constantly in the air, and the long days she spent just sitting in or near the water. Oathkeeper began to shine with a light blue aura, which itself made Oathkeeper's ivory metal look blue. She then hurled the Keyblade into the air, the weapon arcing above Cassius head, and transforming into a dark cloud.

"Frothing Deluge!"

From the cloud came a storm of ice and rain, crashing down on Cassius at high speeds that the droplets of water were more like tiny knives than actual rain.

With the spell over, and the Keyblade back in Kairi's hand, Rain stepped up now, calling upon her own power to destroy Cassius.

"7 Rose Draw, No. 4: Buster!"

The disembodied fist appeared floating next to Rain's right arm. With great anger, the same uncharacteristic anger that would sometimes rise up in Rain, she proceeded to hammer into Cassius, with vicious jabs to the side of his body, powerful straight shots to his body and head and finishing with a single downward shot to Cassius's back, driving him into the ground.

The Immortal managed to get back to his knees but was met by a charging Sora and Kairi, each wielding magically modified Keyblades. Sora's was glowing blue-white and surrounded by ice crystals, while Kairi's was sea blue with small bubbles spinning around them.

"Blizzaga Blade!" Sora called out.

"Waterga Blade!" Kairi shouted.

The two elementally-charged weapons struck Cassius's left arm and gauntlet, breaking through the metal and cutting deeply into his left arm.

The two teens leaped back, creating space between themselves and the staggering, injured Immortal leader.

Cassius, blood dripping from his mouth, stared intently at the raging Rain. "Marina..." Cassius chuckled, still able to flash that slimy, wolfish smile. "When did you acquire such a violent disposition?"

"Its not violence." Rain said, sword twitching in her hand. She always did hate that smile of his. "It's genuine hatred. Nothing more."

Standing up to full height, the group noticed something about Cassius. In that instant, he seemed to be able to shrug off all of the damage that had been inflicted to him. Although he still had several open wounds on his body, his movements were free of pain. It was as if he had turned the clock back to when the three had entered the battle.

"Isn't that interesting..." He mused, that smile still plastered on his face. "Did you not know that hatred is a part of the darkness? That's why nothing you can do can hurt me. Hatred can be powerful, but not the way you use it. Someone who basks in the light like you can never use it to its full potential. And how righteously you bask in that light... I look into your eyes right now, and see it clearly. You think that just by being in the light, by standing next to those Keybladers, you're better than me.

"You can cover yourself in all the light that your heart desires, but you're still an Immortal."

"I am not a monster!" Rain roared back. She had already gone through his once today, and wasn't in the mood for this discussion again.

"Did I use the word monster?" Cassius asked. "No. I called you an 'Immortal', and you instantly react like that is an insult. Well, the way I see it, we Immortals are just the next step in man's evolution. A greater evolved form that defies man, God, and science."

"You know what?" Sora broke in. "All you Immortals have done is spout off a bunch of nonsense, about "the End", "evolution", "perfect beings", "Gods" and a bunch of things I could care less about. The way I see it, all the matters is the here and now. Not your grandiose plans, your cryptic bullcrap, or anything else. Its you and us, and nothing else."

Cassius's smile fell, his gazing turning to Sora. "Fine. It seems that you Keyblade brutes aren't in the mood for talking. If that is the case, I'll teach you all why you should fear Immortality!"

The fiery aura of Cassius picked up again, shading him in orange and red, as he let lose a wave of his own energy, immobilizing the party under the presence of his strength.

"Hell Bomber!"

From the flaming fury around him, several dozen tiny imps flew from it, racing towards Rain. Unable to move in time, they hit her and began to explode on contact, showering her in a cluster of fiery explosions. With Rain burnt and sent flying from the severe attack, the imps veered around to target Sora and Kairi, but they moved away with quick speed.

"One." Cassius said.

Near Cassius's back, Kairi raised her Keyblade at Cassius. Seven beacons of light began to form at its tip, slowly revolving around it. Each small beacon shot forward in quick succession of each other, turning into a beam of light energy as they neared Cassius.

"Angelic Revolver!"

The seven spinning beams nearly made it to Cassius, but he was quick to counter.

"Soul of Fire!"

Quickly negating the Hell Bomber attack, the flaming aura began to spin around Cassius's body, catching the beams before throwing them back at Kairi. She managed to dodge the first two, but soon felt the sting of her own attack. Following the reflected lasers, the carpet of flame spun out, striking Kairi head on. Cassius quickly followed it up with a armoured punch to the young girl's stomach, laying her out on the ground.

"Two."

The hulking fiend spun around quickly, launching a stream of fire that Sora narrowly avoided. Without a second thought, Sora picked out his second Summon Charm that he got back in Disney Castle and raised it into the air.

"Power!" He called out, the Devil Charm shining brightly. "Dante!"

The charm vanished, and Sora waited for some sort of portal or transportation device to appear, but the charm seemed to be a dud, as nothing happened. Cassius laughed loudly at the spectacle, starting to menacingly pace towards Sora.

But suddenly, a loud mechanical roaring began to strike through the air, drowning out the wall of flames that surrounded everyone. Without warning, a motorcycle broke through the fire and crashed into Cassius, knocking him down before performing a donut on the ground, the wheels striking Cassius more and sending him flying away!

The rider flipped off the motorcycle (which mysteriously vanished...). He was a young man, with white hair in a page cut, wearing a red trench coat and black jeans. Strapped to the back of his coat was a pair of Colt pistols – one black, the other white – and a large broadsword. He shadow boxed for a moment, before giving a cocky swagger of his head and turning to Sora.

"Ready to rock, kid?" Dante said.

Sora nodded and hurled his Keyblade at the slowly rising Cassius, the Strike Raid catching him in the chest an throwing him into the ground. Dante rolled forward and drew his pistols, blasting Cassius with a seemingly infinite barrage of gunshots! The momentum of the bullets were enough to juggle Cassius in the air.

When Dante figured his job was done, he sheathed Ebony and Ivory and then gave Sora a leg up, throwing the young teen into the air, who slashed at Cassius, driving him into the ground.

"We're gonna make him cry!" Dante called out.

The Keyblader and demon hunter then decided to give a hit-and-run method. The two rolling past Cassius and slashing at him numerous times.

The combo came to an end when Dante hit an uppercut swing that knocked Cassius into the air again, and turned to Sora.

"Let's inject some style into this party!"

Sora nodded as he held his Keyblade into the air. Dante charged up with demonic energy, before transferring part of that energy into the Keyblade. With air slashes aiming at Cassius, the two unleashed all the demonic energy into the air.

"Devil Rain!"

The demonic energy flew off the blades and swirled up to Cassius in a hurricane of red and purple energy silhouettes of Dante. The spectres slammed into or slashed at the helpless Immortal, before the two finished the attack with one final blast of energy, totally engulfing Cassius.

The phantom motorcycle suddenly appeared in the flame circle again, which Dante promptly mounted again.

He revved the motor and called out at Sora. "Call me when you decide to throw a party again." And with that, he rode off back to the realm of summons.

And although Sora thought he had just won the day, Cassius's laughter proved him wrong. Craning his neck into the sky, he saw that, although bruised and bleeding, Cassius was still very conscious, and floating in mid-air. Laughing and gloating like a mad-man!

"How..." Sora said breathlessly.

"How? Quite simple." Cassius replied, ceasing his mad laughter. "You Sora, are weak."

Anger and shock crossed Sora's face. "I am not!"

"HA!" Cassius barked. "I beg to differ. Maybe in the past, you could be considered a powerful Keyblade Master. You defeated Maleficent and her cohorts, and essentially dismantled the entire Organization XIII by yourself, but you have to understand, that was then. Now, now the world has changed and everyone has stepped up their game. You're still fighting like I'm Xemnas, you're abilities and powers have absolutely stagnated! Riku has found the dawn, Kairi's light gets stronger every fight, and don't even try to compare yourself to Dayne or Rain.

"Strength and weakness are relative, and compared to the world around you these days, you. Are. Weak!"

With his rant finished, Cassius vanished in a plume of flame and re-appeared next to Sora. Suddenly, he clocked him in the chin with a vicious upward thrust kick, followed by a jet of flame, shooting out from the ground diagonally.

The attacks sent Sora flying up and away, Oblivion flying away from his grasp, the heat and flames tearing at his clothes and body. And yet, his whole body just felt numb, like he was having an out of body experience.

Only a single thing floated through his head.

_I...lost?_ Ever since received the Keyblade, he had never been met with any sort of defeat in combat. Never had he truly lost, no matter who he fought. Hades, Maleficent, Riku, Cloud, Hercules, Marluxia, Xemnas... But this, this was a real defeat.

It was just Sora that had lost, Cassius surveyed the battlefield and saw the bodies. Sora was completely out of it, Dayne still had his violent wounds on his body, and both Rain and Kairi were conscious but barely moving at all.

He sneered at the sight. "Pathetic..." He spat it out like it was the foulest of curses. "I thought that two Immortals and two Keyblade Wielders could put up a decent fight....What a disappointment. None of you deserve to live any longer!"

Cassius began to levitate into the air, holding his two palms up above his head. An orange aura began to glow around his body, as the flames surrounding the field swirled up into the sky, gathering into a compact, pulsing, crimson fireball sitting in Cassius's hands.

The sudden drop of heat and change in lighting must have had some sort of effect on Dayne, as he started to stir slightly, turning onto his side and looking at the fireball in Cassius's hands. Sensing the terrible power radiating from him.

"No..." He croaked in urgency. "Not...won't let it happen!" Despite the beating he had received, Dayne managed to rise to shaky feet, eyes trained on the floating Cassius.

Cassius's face had turn from one of disgust and rage into a more serene, almost priestly stare. "It makes no difference I suppose...you would have made it to the End and been judged like so many others. This might be a kinder fate." With a deep breath, Cassius's voice boomed forth across the land. "I condemn all of you to the hands of destiny....

"_**WORLD'S INFERNO!!!**_"

Cassius began to lower the fireball to his chest, planning to unleash the true power of fire across the field. The flames would spread across the field and absolutely incinerate the four belligerents, turning them to ash in an instant. There would be no escape.

But the attack never had a chance to spread, as Dayne summoned what was left of his strength and bolted into the air surrounded by black and white energy.

"Limit Break: The Daemon!"

Dayne transformed into his Daemon form and approached Cassius at point-blank, just as World's Inferno was beginning to fire. Dayne pressed himself in between the fireball and Cassius, letting the full concentrated strength of the flames wash over his body, damaging it even more.

But, he may have had to sacrifice his body, but Dayne had done it. He absorbed every ounce of the attack, some of the flames even going back on Cassius. The Daemon form was canceled, and a large black hole was visible on his chest as he crashed down to earth, a hole of blackened blood and burnt skin, but he did it. And now, just maybe, the others may survive.

Cassius soon came to the ground as well, incensed by what just happened. Molten fury conjured inside his eyes, as he picked up Dayne's discarded High Streak, stalking the Immortal who was now at death's door.

"You..." Cassius began, choking on his own anger. "I tried to treat you like an equal, more like an old friend than a mortal enemy. I never meant you any malice. But now, you have crossed the line that separates minor curiosity and an aggravating annoyance!" Raising High Streak into the air over the prone Dayne, Cassius boomed to the heavens once more.

"With the infinite power and endless fires of hell, I strike thee down, my brother!"

But before he could lower the sword, something came rushing into Cassius's peripheral vision. The blur dashed over Dayne and tackled Cassius, knocking him down and causing High Streak to fall from his clutches.

Everything happened so fast. Sora and Kairi managed to regain conscious and get back to their feet, casting half-hearted Cure spells on themselves, and then on Dayne. Once again, Kairi force fed Dayne an elixir, this time the curative tincture doing its jobs as Dayne sat up, coughing from having the liquid forcibly enter his system.

"What...happened?" He moaned. His entire body was still screaming in agony and the majority of his wounds hadn't healed yet. He shook his head to try and shake the stars away.

"Maybe you can tell us," Sora said quietly. "I mean...I got knocked down sometime ago..."

"Guys!" Kairi shouted, turning everyone's attention over to the far side of the battlefield.

The blur that had knocked down Cassius was none other than Rain! She had charged at Cassius, Scarlet Queen drawn, and had impaled the sword deep into his gut. The two were still wrestling, Rain trying her hardest to dig her blade as deep as possible, and Cassius trying to shake her off. Rain had scissored Cassius's waist with her legs for extra leverage, and both beings were surrounded by a violent red and yellow aura.

"What is she..." Dayne began, before it hit him. Wide-eyed that she was actually doing this, Dayne somehow managed to get to his feet, but couldn't move an inch, falling down near instantly, as his body quit on him again.

"Dayne!" Kairi yelled in shock, trying feebly to catch the much larger warrior. "What's wrong? What did you realize just now?"

Dayne, who was trashing about from the pain he was in, began to scream and rave like a maniac. "You got to stop her! You got to! Hurry! Hurry, please!"

"Why?" Kairi asked, trying to calm down the pained ex-Immortal. "Why? What's happening."

"Stop her! Please! _Please_!!!"

Sora and Kairi look to each other and wordlessly decided, getting to their feet and charging the tangled combatants. But their advance was halted by an invisible force. For some reason, they couldn't move closer than ten-feet to the two.

Unable to do anything physically, Sora went with the next course of action. "Rain? RAIN?" He called out. "What are you doing?"

"Dayne's panicking like mad about this!" Kairi added quickly.

Still trying to keep her grip on the much larger Cassius, Rain called back to them. "Remember when I told you how Scarlet Queen absorbs energy for me? Well, it can only store a finite amount of energy, before the container breaks. Fortunately, it can store so much energy, that there are very few sources that can cause it to break."

The pieces started to fall into place, but the picture wasn't visible yet. "Why...why are you doing this then?" Kairi asked.

"Cassius's 'Perfect Soul'." She replied, with a bitter bite in her voice. "His body is an infinite well of energy! Once Scarlet Queen reaches its maximum, it will go into critical flux, shattering, and unleashing all the energy it gathered at once!"

"What?" Sora said in shock.

"What?" Kairi said in fear.

"What?" Cassius said in surprise.

Looking directly at her former leader, Rain replied with hate and sarcasm. "In layman's terms: We. Go. Boom!"

"Rain, that's insane!" Kairi said. Sora and her and were once again trying to fight there way through the invisible barrier, but to no avail. "You'll die! You...you can't do this!"

"I have to..." Rain said, tightening her grip on Scarlet Queen and Cassius. "I have to...I may die, but so will Cassius! With him gone, we've pretty much won!"

"To hell with that!" Cassius roared back. "What makes you think that to be true?"

"We both know that all the other Immortals are just a bunch of scheming, self-serving fools. They'll fall apart without you!"

"True. Then I'll just have to make sure I don't die now!"

Cassius suddenly tightened his grip on Rain, crushing her spine in an agonizing bear hug, while pressing her gut hard against the pommel of her sword. Not to be defeated, Rain continued to struggle, head-butting Cassius square in the face, breaking his nose, and splitting open her head. When that didn't work, she went at him like an animal, clamping her teeth down on his shattered nose and then his forehead, tearing out a chunk of flesh on the second attempt! Still, Cassius didn't relent, so Rain resorted to her most based of tactics. She kicked Cassius in a man's most sacred zone, striking him in the nethers with a vicious short-range boot. Once, twice, thrice! Cassius gargled blood and lurched forward, his vice grip ceasing, as he fell to a knee.

A small crack appeared in the blade of Scarlet Queen.

While the grappling was going on, Dayne had managed to crawl his way into earshot with Rain, watching her struggle, life and death hanging in the balance. He knew he should say something to her, something comforting, romantic, heart-warming, life-affirming...but he had nothing.

"Rain..." He stumbled over his own tongue. "Rain...please...don't do this!"

Rain twisted her head to look at her husband, smiling with tears in her eyes. "Dayne..." She began, fighting back the tears, and making sure Cassius wouldn't escape. "I need to do this. Not just for you, or for Sora and Kairi. But for everyone. For me." More cracks began to spread along Scarlet Queen. The aura around the two intensified, pushing everyone back even farther. "I want you to understand that this is my choice, nothing more. I'm not doing this just so we can win today, I'm doing this is because I want to. I want to give my life today, because I have lived for so long and seen so many things...but I want to rest now." More tears began to stream down her battered face, as everyone watched her with the same teary eyes and total silence. "I'm so tired...

"But I want all of you to know, how much I've loved my time with you. Sora...Kairi... I'm so glad that I got to meet you, that I got to know you. You're such wonderful people, and you deserve to be with one another, to have that happiness. And Dayne...you're one of the most loving, dedicated, passionate souls I have ever met. I got to spend thirty-years of my life with you, and wherever I go, I will cherish every single, solitary moment we had together. And all I ask of you is to promise me one thing...watch over those two," she looked at Sora and Kairi, with a sad, yet matronly smile, "And live whatever life you have left to its fullest."

"Rain..." Dayne said. Nearly all of Scarlet Queen was cracked on its surface, and it had begun to pulsate. "Don't say these crazy things. Don't! Just don't! You're not going to die now. We still have six-months together. We can't win!" Dayne was trying to crawl beyond the invisible force, but was only clawing at the stone. "We can win and we can travel or spend time with the Princess or do whatever! Please, I need you..."

Choking back as many tears as possible, Rain forced a smile. "You have six months. Just you." She said, mystifying the others. "Dayne, you can live without me. You're strong! Don't give up hope just because of this."

Sora, who had been forced into a stupor from what he was seeing, yelled loudly at Rain, letting out everything he had been holding in. "Damn it Rain! This isn't how it's suppose to happen! You're not suppose to die! No one's suppose to die!" He stared directly at her, fear etching itself onto his face, traumatized by what he was seeing.

"I'm sorry Sora. This is how life is. It hurts.... I know you'll take care of Kairi, and I know you two will have a bright future." A sudden, loud snapping sound cut the air. Scarlet Queen had reached its breaking point. Putting another smile on her face, Rain raised her head back and inhaled for one last time.

Instantly, Rain warped away, to some unknown location. Just as face, off in the horizon, there was momentary a flash of unworldly bright white, which soon collapsed in on itself, and unleashed a roar comparable to that of a jet engine, followed by a massive shockwave, that reached all the way over to the group. And as soon as the wave hit them, reality hit them.

Rain was gone.

Sora and Kairi were paralyzed by what had just occurred, by Dayne – injured though he was – managed to somehow find his feet and, in an act that even when describing Dayne could be called inhuman, started to half-walk, half-stumble towards the site of the explosion.

Sora and Kairi would follow shortly after, and they charged as fast as they could with their injured bodies for close to half an hour. The site was hard to find, as it was clear it had happened where it happened by the black scorch marks all over the dark steel blue stone. A small part of Scarlet Queen and its hilt was present, the metal burnt out and ruined.

But, with the exception of the scorch marks and the sword, there was nothing.

Just nothing.

Sora and Kairi arrived five minutes after Dayne, to see the once stoic, proud warrior clawing the stone and dirt, muttering "No" over and over again.

Even though Rain had said that the war would be over with Cassius's death, those sentiments rang hollow at this moment in time. Sora and Kairi held each other, watching Dayne waste all his energy mumbling and moaning, a sense of sorrow and horror nesting in them. This wasn't a victory, no matter what anyone else might say. On this day, they had been utterly, and totally defeated.

**To Be Continued**

_I'm not gonna say anything, or give any comments. I'm just going to let all of this sink in._

Journal Set # 11

Allister Cdyn

A member of the Radiant Guardians, and current acting-commander, Allister is an expert sword fighter, being able to stand even with supernatural foes, even when he doesn't use his own supernatural powers. An Al-Bhed, Allister is a very suave individual, with a sharp wit, dazzling charisma, and a way with the ladies.

Clyde Rantz

A member of the Radiant Guardians, and current acting second-in-command. Clyde is an expert marksmen and desperado, excelling in all sorts of firearms and explosives. Unlike Allister, Clyde has a much more eccentric and explosive personality, tending to act like a befuddled clown more often than not.

Cassius

The first-ranked Immortal and their absolute leader. Cassius tends to be much more calm and composed compared to his followers, treating his mysterious mission as a crusade. When angered, his true temperament comes roaring out. He appeared before Dayne on the Radiant Garden, beating the warrior from pillar to post, before doing the same to Kairi, Sora, and Rain. He was so powerful that in order to kill him, Rain had to sacrifice herself. In battle, Cassius used a large sword, his fists, and a supreme mastery of fire.

**Chapter Preview**

_Angelo (narrating): The mettle of a man is tested by the adversities he faces._

_Dayne: Why did this have to happen? It should have been me..._

_Angelo: But what happens to those who cannot prove their mettle?_

_Dayne: You don't need me anymore. You two have a job to finish._

_Angelo: Do they fade away into nothingness? Or do they simply not match up to others?_

_Kairi: You can't leave! We need you!_

_Sora: Its just... You can't give up just because of this. It's hard, but you can't give up!_

_Dayne: I don't have to do anything anyone tells me. I want to be free... until Fate surrounds me._

_Angelo: Or maybe, failing their test of mettle, is the true adversity a person faces._

_Next Chapter: His name is survival. **Genesis of Destiny 29: The Strength to Go On.**_

_Dayne: Sadly, I am myself, and nothing more._

_Kairi: I won't let you go! Not another person! I can't let it happen!_

_

* * *

Please Review_

_Go Canucks, Go!_

_SirAngelo_


	29. The Strength To Go On

_What's this? Angelo is posting two chapters in consecutive weeks? LE GASP!!!_

_Well, don't get too excited with this, as part of the quick updates is due to the EXTREME shortness of this chapter. But, I honestly don't think this chapter needs to be 9,000 words. The chapter has a purpose, it serves it, and it doesn't need to be padded or diluted. Also, this chapter is a little off comparing it to other ones. No chapter/POV breaks, just one continuous narrative._

_And a little note to people who are worried about Dayne taking over the story, this chapter is the last chapter that is heavily and solely focused on Dayne, until the very end when everything will be wrapped up. So from now on, it will be Sora, Riku, or Kairi centric, or multi-centric, with Dayne always having the least amount of time in that case._

_Also, onto Canada's favourite pastime, hockey, my hometown team, the **Vancouver Canucks**, have made it to the second round, and so far, they are the only lower-seeded team to beat their opponent in the second round, beating the Chicago Blackhawks. Of course, this will all lead to their first Stanley Cup victory, if we're lucky. Also, a shout out to the Montreal Canadiens and all Canadien fans, because somehow, they eliminated the best team in the NHL._

_Anyways, onto Chapter 29, wherein Dayne goes totally emo._

**Chapter 29: The Strength to Go On**

Three hours.

That's how long it had been since Rain had sacrificed herself. Three hours that seemed like an eternity. After the event, Sora and Kairi just stood by as Dayne muttered over and over, balancing between reality and a comatose state, ignoring the severe wounds he had incurred. They stood and watched this for however long it took, there was no way to discern the time. Not just because they didn't possess a watch, but because the entire event seemed surreal. Sora had never lost anyone on his journeys, no matter how desperate the situation be. Even so, Sora and Kairi had never really lost anyone important to them, or at least could remember it well. True, Kairi had lost her birth parents, but couldn't remember anything about it. Both sets of Sora's grandparents also have passed on, but Sora was really young when his maternal grandparents died, and he was never close with his paternal ones, as they had distanced themselves from his father. They couldn't comprehend what Dayne was going through, as they watched him uselessly repeat "no" and wriggle around in a pathetic manner.

Eventually, Leon and Aerith found their way to the group, and managed to get everyone back to the city, struggling when it came to moving the dead weight that was Dayne. They explained that Allister and Clyde and the remainder of the Guardians had been trying to assuage the worries of the entire city from the tower of fire and the deafening sonic boom and shockwave that appeared not too long ago. They had been talking to the public directly, going onto radio new shows, and were even in the middle of gathering an impromptu television press conference. Considering what the citizens of the Garden were use to, there was no need to out-and-out lie, just conceal the truth slightly. The official reason was that the "disturbances" were caused by the Heartless, but there was no reason to panic as the Keybladers were currently on-world and would deal with it in a swift manner.

Of course, even Clyde and Allister had no idea as to what was really causing the so-called "disturbances". When they – and Leon, Aerith, and everyone else – found out what had happened, they had take the news especially hard as well, having also experienced loss like that. They took on a sober and quiet disposition and each gave condolences to Dayne, who made no response that he had heard them.

Aerith had also been kind to patch everyone up as best she could. Sora and Kairi were no problem. A Curaga for each of them, and they were back to perfect health – a little sore, but nothing too serious. Dayne was a different story. Not only were his wounds much more severe than Sora and Kairi's, but nothing seemed to close them properly. Aerith gave a quick explanation about Cassius's "spiritual energy" infecting Dayne's wounds, meaning nothing short of a miraculously powerful spell could heal them without purifying the "infection" first. Dayne's regeneration factor had also quit on him because of how much damage he had sustained and energy he had lost. Aerith purified the wounds, healed them as best she could, and then used modern medicine to try and repair the rest. That also meant bandaging most of Dayne's body up.

After the long three hours, the three – along with Allister and Clyde – had wound up back at Al and Clyde's apartment, completely exhausted. Everyone was conversing lightly, unsure of what to do exactly, except for Dayne. Having changed out of his tattered rags into a new pair of pants and a hooded sweatshirt, he had also stopped mumbling. No he just stared into face, mostly staring at the floor or his own too feet, his face blank and emotionless.

"You sure you guys are okay?" Allister asked softly. No one had made a lot of noise in the past while.

"For the last time, yes." Sora replied. "We're...we're fine Al." He shifted uncomfortably on top of his bar stool. He and Kairi were sitting at the kitchen's island, with Allister and Clyde standing across them. Dayne was sitting away from all of them at the kitchen table.

Currently, the warrior had moved slightly, looking down into the palm of his hands, which too were injured. He had second and third degree burns all over his body, his hands were no exception. He also had broken his thumb and two knuckles on his left hand. His injuries weren't a bother though. Pain was about mind over matter, and his mind was focused on something else...

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Rain's face. Her bloody, tear-streaked face with the that bittersweet smile of hers. But that smile was all about him. All bitter and no sweet. In his mind, he saw that smile as her disappointment. It had come to this, were she had to sacrifice herself and all he could to was watch helplessly. And it was his fault! He had brought them there. If he was strong enough, if he had the courage to give his life for the greater good, everything would be better now.

"Well..." Clyde started, breaking the silent tension in the room. "Are you guys hungry? We could treat you to a late lunch or an early dinner if you'd like."

"No." Kairi responded quietly. "No. We're not hungry right now. Thank you, though."

Clyde and Allister shared an uneasy gaze. "Okay..."

Dayne had tuned out the world around him.

_How can I go on?_ He thought to himself. He had been married to Rain for thirty-years. And for nearly every day of that marriage, he had woken up with her at his side. He was absolutely lost. It felt like somebody had taken his leg. Everything felt... different now. As if, without her presence, even breathing seemed harder. It was his constant in life. When he went to bed, he didn't know if he would work tomorrow, or even eat, but at least Rain would be there when he woke up.

Now what? What was there left in life? How could he go on now, his life in shambles, and knowing he had killed the most important person in his life?

Cassius didn't want Dayne, he wanted to get as many of them in one fell swoop. Either sideline them, or capture them, or kill them outright. Maybe he had wanted Dayne to die more than anyone else, but he would be satisfied if he had gotten somebody. And he did.

All of this happened because of the Immortals. Even ignoring the constant attacks and harassment by Cassius and the others, it was just because they existed. If an 'Immortal' had never existed, if they stayed as Heartless and Nobody, all of this chaos would never have happened. Sure he and Rain would never had met and fallen in love, but they surely would have passed onto whatever afterlife awaited them, and Kairi and Sora could have some more peace. They could relax, have an ordinary life, date, maybe even marry and live happily ever after.

All because of the Immortals.

_I hate them. All of them._

He closed his eyes for a moment, and saw it all. The blood, the tears, the lights, the smile. The flash.

_What kind of husband am I? What kind of warrior or bodyguard am I? I couldn't even save her..._

"So..." Clyde started awkwardly. "You guys are on some sort of mission right?" The two teens nodded. "What is it?"

"We're creating new Keyblade Masters." Kairi answered. "Although I don't think 'creating' sounds right. It's more like we're endowing people with Keyblades."

_The Keyblade. That's right._

"Oh," Allister said. "Sounds interesting. How many have you...endowed?"

Sora answered this time. "Two. To Edward Elric and Waltz Highwynder."

Al's interest was piqued. "How many do you have to go until you're done?"

"Well, you pass out these objects called Blank Medallions." Kairi started. "So I suppose we're done when we run out of them." She turned to Sora. "How many is that?"

"We only have one left." He said. "And Riku has...two, I think."

Suddenly, Dayne got up.

Without a word, the warrior stood up, retrieved his gun-belt, pistol, and sword, and walked out of the apartment flat into the overcast world.

"Dayne?" Kairi asked quietly as he approached the door frame. Oddly, he made no inclination that he heard her. When he opened the door, she repeated louder. "Dayne? Dayne, where are you going?" Again no response, so everyone decided to follow him.

Oddly, Dayne seemed he didn't want to be followed, as he soon tried to flee from the others, but was quickly cut off outside the street intersection when Sora and Kairi use Quick Run to get ahead of him.

"Dayne," Kairi started in a distressed manner. "Where were you going?"

"I was leaving." He replied brusquely. No formality, no pomp, no circumstance, not even a sense of politeness.

"Where to?" Kairi asked. Dayne scoffed at the clueless manner she asked the question. "What is it?"

Emotionless as before, he replied. "Sometimes you can be thickheaded as your boyfriend."

Kairi was stunned into silence. The comment, while mean spirited, wasn't delivered with any intent to hurt, but it stung coming from Dayne's mouth, who normally had to temper his praise and worship of Kairi.

"Hey, what the hell was that?" Sora responded. Dayne made no reply, no motion whatsoever. "Hey! I was talking to you! This is Dayne Rivera we're talking about, why the hell did you just insult Kairi? Why aren't you harking at me for yelling at you? What the hell are you doing!?"

Finally, he spoke up. "I told you, I was leaving." Dayne then looked beyond the two Keybladers in front of him. He was vaguely aware that Clyde and Allister were behind him, but unsure of what they were doing or would do. "I'm leaving the group."

"What? Why?" That's all Kairi could manage at the time.

"I just realized, we're on different missions. The two of you and I, there's no point for us to be in the same group."

"That's crazy!" Kairi exclaimed. She wasn't ready for this, she just lost Rain, she couldn't lose both of them in the same day. "We have the same missions. We have to make new Keybladers and -"

"No, _you_ have to make new Keybladers. I don't. I can't. You two can sail around the worlds to your hearts content, but I can't waste time like that."

Sora was about ready to summon Oblivion and beat some sense into Dayne, but he steadied himself. "Then, what's this mission of yours thats so important you can't waste time."

Dayne looked at Sora and Kairi, two sets of cerulean eyes. Sora's were rebellious and angry, Kairi's full of dazed wonderment and sad. Instantly, he backed away and chose to stare at the ground than to face those eyes.

"It's quite simple. I'm going to go out and find – hunt down – every single Immortal that I come across. I won't rest until everyone of those abominations are dead and gone. Me included."

"Dayne!" Kairi yelled again. "You can't... You're really going through with that."

Still looking down, he shrugged. "Why not? We've all been killing Heartless and Nobodies indiscriminately. What's the difference between them and us?"

"'Us'? What are you talking about? You're not like the others!"

"Yes I am!" Dayne yelled. He had never let himself get angry at Kairi before. It felt so foreign. "We can deny it all we want, but when it comes down to it, I'm an Immortal. Not human! Our physiologies are completely different. I'm more related to a Heartless or a Nobody or a Fell Soul. They weren't meant to exist and neither was I!

"And even if I was, then what's left for me? Nothing! I don't have a purpose to live anymore."

"You have me..." Kairi said weakly, realizing how stupid it sounded when she spoke.

"You don't need me." Dayne said in quiet, bitter way. "Not anymore. You have Sora, you have Riku, you have Namine. I'm useless to you. The only reason I had to live was Rain. We lived for each other. Now, without her, I have nothing!"

"Dayne..." Sora began, tempering his own tone. "It's...it's gonna be alright."

"No it's not!" Finally, Dayne let all his aggression and anger rush out. "It's not okay and don't pretend it will be! You two have no idea what I'm going through! You can't even imagine! I was married to for thirty-years. THIRTY. YEARS. Even if one of you were to lose the other, you wouldn't be going through what I am. I don't care how in love you are! My entire life.... It feels like someone has ripped out the very core of my heart..."

And with that, Dayne finally proceeded, passing a wordless Kairi first – who was standing slightly ahead of Sora. When he got to the aforementioned brunette, he was shocked at his actions. Sora had summoned Oblivion, the sharp black blade blocking Dayne's departure.

With a normally unseen fury in his eyes, Sora stood Dayne down. "I don't care what your reasons are. You're not leaving!"

Dayne cracked a wry smile, backing away a few paces. "I thought you would be happy about this." His voice was changing constantly. Going from sorrowful to angry to mocking to sarcastic. "I'm gone. Out of the picture. You finally get your Princess all to yourself. This is what you wanted, right?"

"No." Sora replied instantly and defiantly. "I didn't want this. I would go through hell and back, just to see Kairi smile. I would do anything I could to make her happy. And, for some reason, you make her happy. So, I may have to walk on egg shells, to live with someone I don't like, or feel uncomfortable around, but if it makes her happy, I'll walk on those egg shells with a smile."

Dayne made an amused noise and backed away some more. "Well, aren't you the big man..." He replied in his sarcastic voice.

"Shut up!" Sora shouted again. "That's another thing. You're pissing me off in how you're acting now, you selfish bastard! You think you're the only one who is allowed to be sad because Rain is gone? You think you're the only one who feel bad or guilty?" He stopped for a moment, his voice trailing from angry to sad. "We may not have known her as well as you, but we still knew her. Kairi lost a very important person today, almost a motherly figure. She lost another part of a past she can't remember, that she wants to remember.

"And me..." Tears began to well in his eyes now. "I was angry not just at you, but at Rain too. But, after spending time with her today, I feel bad." The Keyblade Master was now openly crying at the memories his confession was stirring up. "I feel bad because I lost a friend, because I feel guilty for being angry at her, and because I didn't get the chance to properly apologize to her. You can't just act like a selfish jackass, thinking this is your problem. We're all experiencing it and we'll all get through it. Together!"

"Dayne." Kairi said from behind him, walking toward him and Sora. "I've lost too many people in my life. People I can't remember, but important people nonetheless." Standing next to Sora, she matched his defiance with a strong gaze and by summoning Oathkeeper. "I refuse to stand by and watch someone else leave!"

For a few seconds, it seemed as if Dayne would relent and turn back with his allies. But then, he spoke up, emotionless as before. "Will you two move on your own," he drew High Streak from the shoulder sling, "Or do I have to cut my way out?"

Sora and Kairi took there stances.

"I see..."

Fast as lightning, Dayne jumped at Sora, smashes his blade with Sora's Keyblade. The force of the charge shoved Sora back a fair distance, as the two exchanged slashes. Sora's offence was quickly stymied by Dayne's violent and aggressive style. His way of sword-fighting was completely new to Sora; wickedly strong, rapid-fire one-handed slashes that Dayne chained together into a non-stop combo. Without preparing for this fight, or being able to think of a way to counter, Sora was soon overwhelmed, knocked off balance, and kicked to the ground. Dayne stood tall, readying for the finishing blow.

Before he could drop the guillotine, something crashed into Dayne's side, causing him to lower his sword and double over. At first, Dayne thought Clyde was shooting at him. But instead, and to his surprise, it was Kairi firing bolts of light energy.

"You?" He panted. "You're gonna fight me?" He felt bad for taunting her like this, when she had become such a strong fighter in a short time, but he needed to sever all ties.

"I don't want to." She replied calmly and confidently. "But I will if I have to." Dayne instantly made a move to charge, but Kairi countered with another series of light blasts.

Dayne shrugged off the damage and continued the charge, though slower than his one on Sora. Kairi danced around the charge like a matador or ballerina, positioning her Keyblade so that High Streak slid into the gap between Oathkeeper's bars. Twisting her hand and arm, she rotated Dayne's sword and wrist so much that Dayne had no choice but to let go of High Streak's hilt. With this grasp free, Kairi spun around and tossed High Streak away, before imposing herself between Dayne and his blade.

Without his main weapon, Dayne resorted to his second weapon. He drew Low Cut and aimed it, point-blank, at Kairi's head.

He had tried to play the villain, the asshole, he wanted to leave and make sure no one regretted it. But he couldn't anymore. He had death pointed at the one person left in the world who mattered to him. It was too much for him to handle, and the revolver started shaking in his hand, his finger shaking equally next to the trigger.

Kairi, though, wasn't in the mood to sympathize with the distressed warrior. "Are you going to do it Dayne?" She asked, goading him on in an unusual manner for her. "Are you?" Are you!?"

"If you don't let me go, then yes!"

"Well then..." She started again. "Are you going to insult Rain?" Dayne looked skeptical at this. "Do you remember her last words? She wanted you to watch over us, to live life to its fullest, to keep hope despite the darkness! She's not dead for four hours and already you're going to betray her? Are you going to kill me? Abandon us? Go off on your stupid crusade and wallow in self pity? Are you?"

Low cut was slowly being angled away from Kairi's head. "I..." Dayne had an animal-like panic in his eyes. "You don't know what I'm going through!"

"Don't start with that again!" Kairi fired back. "Maybe I haven't lost anybody important to me, at least anyone I can remember, but I know what its like to feel guilty for causing death!" Now, it was Kairi's turn to weep. "The Radiant Garden was nearly destroyed entirely because Maleficent wanted me. She was looking for me, and would go through anyone to get me. Thousands, maybe even millions, of people died because Maleficent wanted me! I may not have know those people, and I may not show it, but do you know what kind of guilt that puts on somebody? I have to live with that everyday, that I caused so much destruction, because I'm a Princess of Heart, something I can't even control!"

She wiped away the tears and gazed back at Dayne with fire burning in her normally kind blue eyes. "But, I live with it, and fight on so something like that will never happen again, because I want to be strong. So, you have two choices." Dayne was trying to steady his gun, but looked like he was about to break from the stress. "You can shoot me, spit on the memory of your wife, and sink into darkness and despair like a weakling." She walked up to Dayne, lowering her Keyblade. She was an arm length away from him, gun barrel directly pointed at her skull. "Or, you can deal with this pain, be strong, live with it, fulfill your wife's last wishes, and be a better, happier person because of it.

"What will it be?"

He was at his breaking point. Hand on the trigger. Gun pointed at her forehead. The firearm was shaking madly. A look on his face that could only be called frightened shell shock. Kairi shut her eyes, and for a brief second, it looked like Dayne would pull the trigger and kill her.

But he didn't.

His hand loosened, and the pistol fell to the ground, clattering loudly. Dayne fell soon after, going down to his knees, arms spread wide open, staring up at the cloudy sky. Kairi heard a sound and opened her eyes, seeing the normally stoic, proud, strong bodyguard of hers on his knees, weeping and sobbing openly. He should have weeped like a child when Rain died, but didn't, and now he had found catharsis, crying out at the heavens for his loss.

"I'm so sorry..." He sobbed violently through the tears and unintelligible sobs. "Sorry...I'm sorry...I should have.... Why...." Whether he was apologizing to Kairi or Rain wasn't know. "Please.... I'm sorry..."

The fire died out, and Kairi's eyes returned to normal. Oathkeeper vanished, as she fell to her knees too, embracing Dayne in a hug, burying her head in his shoulders. "It's alright..." She cooed softly. "Its okay."

It was a weird sight that Sora, Allister, and Clyde witnessed, seeing the petite teenage girl consoling the normally strong, now emotionally broken titan of a fighter in their teary embrace. Clyde and Al didn't know how to react, awkwardly staring and turning away from the scene. Sora though, smiled softly.

Although he was slightly peeved it wasn't him being hugged by Kairi, he knew it was for the better. He wanted Kairi to be as happy as she could, and he was also proud on how much she had grown in the short time. She had become a strong fighter, and she had realized many things about herself and her past. The fun-loving, shy girl that he had a crush on so long ago had become a strong, proud, caring, and defiant young woman that he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Allister finally spoke up for the three. "So...what to we do?"

"Nothing, Al." Sora offered. "We do nothing. Just let them be."

It was a tragedy to be sure. Rain had died and it was a hard thing to face. But maybe they could keep going on, despite the sorrow and the pain.

And maybe, Cassius hadn't won after all.

**To Be Continued**

_Ah, that felt good. Yeah, it was short, but it didn't need to be long to serve its purpose._

_I'm getting happier and happier with this story and its surroundings with each passing chapter, I think I may have finally found my groove._

**Chapter Preview**

_Angelo: Does anyone remember why everyone embarked on this journey? That's right, to make new Keybladers. Well, it seems Riku, Edward, and Alphonse have landed on a world with a new Keyblade candidate, but in order to find him, the three will have to go the distance and face off against a new enemy, who is fighting for something more important than glory or pride. Its gonna be a slobber-knocker!_

_Next Chapter: Ring the bell! **Genesis of Destiny Chapter 30: God Bless the Ring!**_

_Angelo: Ready....Fight!_

* * *

_Please Review_

_Go Canucks, Go!_

_SirAngelo_


	30. God Bless The Ring!

_Ah, thirty chapters! Is that a milestone? I think it is one._

_Anyways_, _this chapter is a little late due to one simple fact. Over the past while, I've become addicted to various internet critics like Linkara, the Spoony One, and the Nostalgia Critic. I'v actually become immersed in the world of internet critics, nearly obsessed about it, and I'm having deluded dreams of becoming an internet critic myself. Anyways, if you are looking for a nice comedic diversion from the world, I would go brave the mire of the internet to find these wonderful online superstars and prepare to laugh your ass off. I would recommend (from the NC) "Batman & Robin_"_, "Titanic: The Animated Musical" and "Battlefield Earth", (from Linkara) his four part review of DC comic's "Countdown to Final Crisis" and (from Spoony) his 11 part review (yes, 11 parts) of "Final Fantasy VIII", his joint review of "Warrior #1", and his reviews of the "Captain America" TV movies._

_Also, "Birth By Sleep" (which I am very excited for) is getting its North American release in six weeks or so, and we should be getting a few Kingdom Hearts games featured at E3._

_And in other news, the Canucks lost to the Blackhawks, and I had to shave my playoff beard. Go Canadiens, I guess, got to love the underdogs...  
_

**Chapter 30: God Bless The Ring**

"Glad my partner is more than a pretty face."

Riku sniggered at Dawn's comment. "You would know that already, if you did more than hit on me."

Riku was currently dueling Dawn inside of his heart, atop the stained glass platform. Ever since Neverland, Riku has noticed some changes about him and his heart. First, the mural on the center of the pillar had changed. It was now of Riku, sitting on the bough of papou tree, looking out to the ocean at nighttime, the sun was just rising over the water, with rays of golden light pouring to the edge of the mural. Second, several changes had been made to the row of circles, the ones that held the ones closest to his heart. The heart itself was still blacked out, and it was still followed by Sora, Kairi, King Mickey, and DiZ. The shattered circle of Xehanort's Heartless was now removed, and it was replaced by five more blacked-out circles.

The other change, was a more mental change. Before meeting Dawn, Riku had never been able to consciously "dive", or even "dive" by his own volition. He was always called inward by an external force. So, to his surprise, right before he was about to call it a night after defeating Josef, Dawn gave him a mental poke and told him that he should come in and train with her. So now, at least twice a day, he would close his eyes, concentrate, and sink down into his heart. He usually did this right before he went to bed, and as soon as he got up, but on a slow day, like yesterday (their junky ship had been drifting at a painfully slow speed since departing Neverland two days ago), he found himself going into his room and entering the meditative stance needed to enter.

Training varied from session to session. Sometimes they would work on the accuracy or power of his current Dawn attacks, work on creating new attacks, or engaging in a sword fight, which is what they were doing now. Whenever he dueled Dawn, Riku always felt like he was fighting a mirror. She wielded a facsimile of Way to the Dawn (the colours on hers were a little more muted, and it lacked a key chain entirely), and even fought in a very similar stance. It was a more than a little unnerving, especially considering Dawn's attitude towards Riku outside of training.

The two turned around to meet one another, with their near identical weapons clashing hard. Although Dawn had a similar starting stance to Riku, she didn't keep it for actual combat. She had the tendency to float, and strafe side-to-side and backwards while floating (which uncomfortably reminded Riku of Vexen). But, for all of her flirty attitude during their first meeting, Dawn did seem to have a mind for serious business, always wanting Riku to get stronger, and proving to be a fierce opponent in a fight.

They continued the sparring match for another five minutes, before Dawn decided to call it a session. Normally, Riku would immediately pull himself out, put he lingered this time, and Dawn noticed.

"Hmm?" The mysterious being stepped over to Riku, a finger placed on her chin. "You're still here? I wonder why? Maybe its because you want to get to know little old me a little more?"

"No!" Riku said quickly. "Well, yes.... I mean, no. Kind of. I know you can't tell me who or what you are, but...why are you so fixated on training me?"

Dawn smiled, and put her hands behind her back. "Is that all? I'm just concerned for your well being, cutie."

"My 'well being'? Sorry if I don't trust you, but I've heard that line before."

Dawn pouted slightly and came closer to Riku, only a foot or two away from the Warrior of Dawn. "Okay. I still can't tell you much, but right now, its my job to make you stronger." Riku gave her a quizzical look. "Don't get me wrong, you've come a long way in the past while, but...something big is going to happen soon, and we have a lot of work to do if you wanna be strong enough."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Strong enough for what?"

"That's another thing I can't tell you. So until I can tell you all of this," she extended her arm out towards Riku. "You just need to trust me. 'Kay?"

Riku gave a wry grin and gave the mysterious girl a handshake. "Alright, I'll trust you."

"Super!" Dawn smiled, withdrawing his hand. "Now, I have a question to ask you."

"Shoot."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"..."

Riku face palmed and groaned. He was beginning to see a pattern here...

* * *

An hour after Riku's morning training with Dawn, the ship finally came to the next world: the Olympus Coliseum.

Riku, Ed, and Al disembarked just outside the entrance of the Coliseum, which had an air of to-do about it. Some sort of event was being held today, as visible by the large amount of vendors on the sand, and the brightly coloured posters hanging on every surface they could.

Before Riku could find out any information from anyone, something tugged at his mind.

_Riku! Riku! Riku!_ Dawn piped up in her hyperactive manner. _Did you feel that?_

Riku did his best not to draw attention to himself, considering he was replying to a voice in his head. _Feel what? What are you talking about?_

_My bad, I should have known you weren't that far along yet, Riku-kun_

_Okay Dawn, what exactly are you-, _Then, it hit Riku. _Wait a minute, "Riku-kun"?_ Dawn made a mental reply. _Why?_

_Because I feel like it, and it sounds cute._

Riku did a mental face palm. _What did you feel Dawn?_

_A Keyblade candidate._ She replied instantly. _The next recipient of the Blank Medallion is here, I can feel it!_

That got Riku's attention. But, before he could ask anymore questions to Dawn, Ed spoke up, pushing the topic from his hand for the time being.

"So," Ed began, speaking over the din of the vendors and patrons around them, "Just to make sure, from here on out, you've got a clean slate right? You haven't done anything terrible for that witch here?"

"Uh...yeah. That's right." Riku said, shaking off his mental conversation. "My past won't bother us anymore. In fact, if we're lucky, we can sponge off some of Sora's good will." With that thought now in his mind, Riku decided to look around and soak in the new world.

Ed nodded and then took a quick look around. "So, what's happening here?"

"Couldn't say." Riku shrugged, before pointing to a poster. "I don't read Ancient Greek."

"Maybe we should find out." Alphonse suggested, pointing to the coliseum's proper entrance. The other two nodded and walked through the throng of eager spectators, into the lobby. Inside, they found a peculiar sight; a very short man was standing with his front facing an alcove full of trophies, holding a slate of stone, which he was currently antagonizing himself over.

The sight was peculiar, because of how odd the short man was. He was extremely short, smaller even than Edward, and was also very chunky. That wasn't the strangest part though, as his lower quarters were that of a goat! With spindly legs, brown hooves, and orange fur. The oddities didn't stop there, as he had two visible goat horns protruding from his head. The Keyblader/alchemist trio had to stop and take stock of things, looking at one another, with Ed and Al looking to Riku for answers. When the teen offered none, he approached the bizarre, little man.

"Um...excuse me." Riku began, unsure of how to exactly to do this.

Before he could get another word in, the man spoke up. "Aw, champ." He had a very gruff accent. "You're done already? You're working too fast for me these days!" Riku tried to speak up, but he wasn't quick enough. "Anyways, I want you to go out and preen for the crowd, you know, get them hyped up for the Gauntlet today."

Riku blinked, stunned into silence by the man's orders. Obviously, the goat-man was mistaking Riku for someone else.

Still stunned, the goat-man continued before Riku could properly respond. "Not that they need to be hyped up!" He chuckled to himself, still looking at the stone slate in his hand. "They're always so rilled up to see you – their boy – in the ring...even if it is for five seconds, whooping some chump's butt!"

"I think-" Riku began again, trying to alleviate the confusion, but the obnoxious man-goat interrupted him, lightning quick.

"I know, I know. You got a problem with going out before a fight, and getting people more excited than they should be. Well, too bad! Market research shows that you're appearance before a bout drives up merchandise sales.

"Besides, they love to see the star, their hero! You wouldn't deny them that simple pleasure, would you?"

While Riku had been searching for his words and his time to speak up, Edward was standing in the background, getting more and more annoyed with every passing interruption.

"Listen you stubby little jerk, we're not whoever you think we are! And you would have realized that five minutes ago, if you just had the sense to turn around and talk to use like a normal person!"

This got the goat-man's attention. "Why you smug, little..." he started, turning around quickly to face Ed. When he caught sight of the Fullmetal Alchemist, the rage dropped from his face and changed to disappointment. "Oh, its just a kid." He mumbled sadly. "We seem to be getting a lot of those around here, lately." Ed looked even more peeved at the comment.

"What do you mean, 'just a kid'?" An indignant Ed ranted.

"What do you think I meant, shorty!" The strange man shot back. Riku and Al groaned, as they knew what was coming next.

"SHORT! SHORT!" Ed frothed, literally hopping mad at his most hated adjective. "You're calling me short, you tiny, stubby, goat-man...THING!"

Just then, a tall, muscular man with rusty red hair, and wearing a bronze cuirass, armoured skirt, and gladiator sandals, walked into the lobby. Of course, only Al and Riku noticed this.

"Hey, I'm a satyr kiddo." He said. "And my name is Philoctetes, but you can call me Phil."

"Speak of the satyr," the buff man said. "I'm all finished setting up those fighting pits, Phil." Phil turned towards him, and the man got a look at the scene before him. "What do we have here? Some warriors in waiting?"

"This pipsqueak?" Phil said, pointing to Ed (you could hear the alchemist mutter "pipsqueak" back). "Nah. He's just a kid."

The man clasped his chin, apparently in thought. "What about the other two? I would think they would be right up your ally."

"Other two?" Phil then looked beyond Ed and their argument, to see Riku and Alphonse. Instantly, the satyr's eyes lit up at the large, armoured form of Al. "Wow! Hey there buddy!" He went up and started to shake Al's metallic hand in a wild manner. "The name's Phil, combat trainer extraordinaire! If you're here for the Gauntlet today, I could set you up nice and easy, you would be a big hit out in the ring." Before Al could even reply, Phil sidled over to Riku and began to shake his hand too. "And you. You may not be as impressive as the big guy, but you got a warrior's look to you. Plus, I imagine you would be a big hit with the ladies out there. I could make you a big star, too! You could be the toast of the Coliseum...after Herc here of course."

Riku finally managed to wiggle his hand out of Phil's grasp. "Wait. You're Phil, and you're Herc.... Hercules, right?" The man nodded. "I'm Riku. I'm a friend of Sora's." He then motioned to the Elric brothers. "And this is Edward and Alphonse Elric."

"A friend of Sora's, eh?" Hercules said. "Well, nice to meet you Riku." Once more, Riku was trapped in a handshake, this time it was the iron clad grasp of the demi-god before him. Riku winced at his strength. "Sora was always a strong competitor in the past, but I doubt I have to tell you that."

"No." Riku said in a strained voice. He tried to counter Hercules' bone-crushing might with his own tight grip, but he doubt the pressure registered with him. "He's pretty strong. And he always spoke of this place very highly." Ed snorted at the comment.

"We've seen a lot of people and posters outside." Alphonse said. "What exactly is going on today?"

Phil was the one to answer. "Well, Heavy Metal, in four words: The Olympian Gauntlet."

Before one of the trio could correct Phil's (very common) faux pas, Hercules continued on.

"Its a new contest compared to all the other tournaments we've had so far. Competitors ranging from solo fighters to teams of four fight in a ten-round gauntlet of Heartless. Then, the two competitors or teams with the fastest times in the gauntlet go on to face one another."

Phil then walked up to Hercules and patted him as high up as could, which happened to be his thigh. "And the winner of that match gets the chance of a lifetime, as they go up against my boy, the champ, Hercules!"

Phil gave some applause, while Hercules struck a pose, before Phil continued on. "But you know, that really isn't a prize. 'Cause nobody's ever beaten the champ!"

_Except for Sora,_ Riku thought. He then spoke up. "Sounds like fun. I know its probably last minute, but do you think we could grab a spot?"

"'Sounds like fun'?" Ed mocked. Clearly his spat with Phil had put him in a sour mood. "Sounds more like a waste of time to me."

"C'mon brother," Al started up. "Don't you think it could be fun?"

"We don't have time to have fun though, Al." Ed said. "We're on a mission." He then lowered his voice and drew into Riku and Al. "We have to find the Keyhole, find the Keybladers, and watch out for those white-cloaked freaks, that moronic dog-man, and the witch."

Riku chuckled slightly. "Wow Ed, you're starting to sound like a regular, experienced Keyblader." Ed shook his head mockingly at the comment.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't change the fact that we don't have time to screw around in a little tournament."

Alphonse broke away from the little argument, and turned to Hercules. "Wait. Something has been bothering me. Did you say that the Gauntlet waves were made up of Heartless?" Herc and Phil nodded. "Then, where did you get them?"

"I guess that would be my cue!" A disembodied voice rang out in the lobby.

In a cloud of smoke and fire, the infamous Grecian God of the Dead, in his black toga, appeared in the Coliseum lobby, complete with his blue skin, yellow eyes, and the blue plume of flame he called hair. Ed and Al jumped back at the sudden appearance of Hades, while Riku gave Maleficent's former conspirator a hard gaze.

"Hades!" He yelled quickly, hopping into a stance, and almost summoning his Keyblade.

"That's what my mother called me." He then turned and got a glimpse of Riku, flashy an ugly smile. "Well, hey there. If it isn't Maleficent's old errand boy, and all grown up too! Look at you, you look like a real man! My, my, my. How long has it been kiddo? We should catch up after all this crazy mess clears up, you know?" He slinked over to the silver-haired Keyblader, and put and arm over his shoulders, but Riku instantly brushed it off.

"Can it, creep!" Riku shouted. "What do you mean, you're supplying the Heartless for the tournament?"

"Oh, quite simple." The God began, "You see, I summon up some Heartless to serve as sword fodder for Philly goat's little gauntlet, and in return, I get to enter one warrior of my choice. No ifs, ands, buts, or coconuts."

"Yeah, I'm really sure its on the up and up." Riku said sarcastically.

Hades gave him a mean sideways glance. "Wow. Looks like someone's having some rough teenage years. At any rate, I'm gonna split. I got some last minute God-of-the-Dead things to deal with." He then turned to each of the heroes in turn. "Wonder Jerk, Errand boy, Philly goat," he then got to Elrics, "tall and short guy I've never seen before..."

"What is with this world?" Ed grumbled angrily.

"Have fun at the grand old tourney!" And with that, Hades vanished in another puff of smoke and flame. As soon as he left, Riku turned to Hercules and Phil.

"How could you agree to work with that creep!" Riku demanded. "You know that he's going to try and have that warrior kill Hercules in the final round, right?"

"We're aware of that." Phil replied, insulted.

"The way we figure," Hercules said. "Is that he's already tried with with Cloud, and with Auron. He can try it again and again all he wants, but if he failed with those two powerful warriors, I doubt he can succeed with anyone else. We get a bunch of expendable Heartless to test our warriors and give the public a good fight, and Hades gets to fail once again."

"It's a win-win, kid!" Phil announced.

Riku rubbed his chin in thought. "I still don't like it..." He said. "Phil, we want into this Gauntlet thing!"

"What is wrong with this place?" Ed exclaimed loudly. "Did you not hear me two minutes ago. We don't have time to waste fighting in these tournament things! We have something important to do!"

"Ed, Hades used to work with Maleficent." Riku explained. "He still might be working with Maleficent. And even if he isn't, who knows what kind of havoc he could wreak unchecked? We do have a mission to do, and this is a part of it."

Ed look unconvinced, but Riku was undeterred by his demeanor.

"Hey, I'm glad that you've become so serious about this mission and all, but you have to realize something about being a Keyblader."

Ed raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Well, what's that?"

"We're usually not given a lot to go on, so sometimes, we just have to go with the flow and see where it takes us." Riku said with a smug smile on his face. Ed continued to frown at the concept of playing it by ear, so Al had to speak up.

"Riku's right, brother." Al added. "We have nothing else to do or go on, and its not like we're just giving up on everything just to compete. Every other world we've been to has been the same, we just go along with whatever and it all works out in the end."

After a moment more of frowning and hesitation, Ed finally acquiesced to the suggestion. "Alright, alright. We'll do the Gauntlet thing. But I'm not doing it because of this whole 'go with the flow thing'." He then turned his attention back to Phil. "I'm doing it to show the goat-sprout here that I am a warrior!"

"Eh." Phil shrugged. "I'll believe it when I see it."

"Oh, you will see it." Ed yelled back. He then pulled back the sleeve on his right arm to reveal his automail arm. "I'm the god-damn Fullmetal Alchemist! I'm a hero on my home world and one hell of a warrior!"

Phil snorted at the rant. "And here I though there was a height requirement to be a hero."

"Height requirement! WHY YOU LITTLE!"

No one decided to point out the irony of Ed using Phil's shortness as an insult. Riku and Al just sighed, before the Warrior of Dawn seized Ed's arms to prevent him from pouncing on Phil and beating on the satyr with his metal limbs.

"So, do you think you can fit the three of us in?" Riku said to Hercules. The demi-god and the satyr trainer were doing an excellent job ignoring Ed's tantrum.

"Usually we would say no." Hercules began. "But for friends of Sora, I think we can make an exception."

"Though we can't put you in the main ring." Phil added. "But, you'll be in for sure. Just head over to ring number four in an hour. We'll deal with all the paper work."

"Thank you, very much." Alphonse said with a slight bow.

"We'll do our best for sure." Riku said, before he and Al left the lobby to find their way around the Coliseum, dragging away Ed who was still in the throws of his tantrum.

"This isn't over you stubby little goat! I'm gonna make you eat everyone of those short jokes!"

As the trio left the lobby, Hercules turned to Phil and asked, "So, what do you think of those three, Phil?"

"Well, the two of them got the right look," the trainer conceded, "and the short one definitely has a lot of fire in him. But I've seen a lot of chumps who look good and have some fire to them. Let's see how they manage when they get to the ring."

* * *

Meanwhile, just outside the Coliseum boundaries, the urgent business Hades had had let the Olympian God to the forest grove outside of the imposing structure. And the suave and cool facade Hades had was starting to chip away at the very moment, as he was in the middle of one of his signature rapid-fire tirades.

"You know, this just really steams me." The God said in a voice of hushed-anger. "You lay your plans as best you can, wait as patient as divinely possible, wait for that one opportune moment life gives you. Then, BAM! What do you get? That little snot-nosed punk shows up to throw a wrench in my plans!" The area lit up with red and yellow light, as Hades "ignited" into his red-flame mode, incinerating a nearby shrub with a bolt of flame.

A figured hidden in the shadows scoffed at the rant. "You're tell me that the almighty God of the dead, the Lord of the Underworld, is afraid of a couple of teenagers?"

"They're not just a 'couple of teenagers'!" Hades snapped, still sporting the red flame, instead of the blue. "If you talked to any of my friends, they would tell you that that silver-haired brat and his friends are nothing but trouble!" The shadowed figure made an unimpressed sound. "Shut it! I don't need to get burned by another sword-for-hire!"

"Don't whine about that again." The figure, clearly a man, shot back. "Remember, you came to me."

Hades finally began to cool down back to his blue self. "I know. I know I came to you, buddy. And I came to you because you're completely different from every other mercenary out there."

Hades then slid away from the shadows that were hiding his warrior. The warrior sighed at this, as he knew Hades was about to let fly another melodramatic monologue. "You see, when I picked Cloud way back when, I picked him because he had something he wanted to find. But I didn't realize that that preening, spiked haired whiner didn't need me, he had his own means to find what he wanted. I got burned. Then I moved onto that old corpse, Auron. I figured, he's dead, he has everything to win fighting for me, right? Wrong! He has nothing to lose if he betrays me. Once again, I got burned."

"I'm not going to burn you," the man said impatiently. "So long as you hold up your end of the bargain."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll send you in the right direction to what you want to find, so long-"

"Wrong!" It was the mystery man's turn to snap. "You're not sending me in the right direction. You will take me directly there! That's the deal, I kill Hercules, you take me there." He then turned away from Hades. "Unless... your so-called divine powers aren't incapable of doing that."

Hades wagged his finger at the shadowed man. "Hey, word of advice kid, never imply a God is impotent. 'Kay? It's never a smart idea. But you are right about one thing." Hades gave another one of his ugly, yellow toothed grins. "I picked you because you want something, but, unlike those other deadbeats, you don't have the means to get what you want. You need me, and I need you."

"Whatever," the darkened man shrugged.

"Jeez, what is up with you?" Hades mused, with a finger over his lips. "Buzz about you was that you were the town cut up, always smiling and grinning and joking. I've seen broader smiles from the Spartans."

"This is business." The man said back. "Important business. I don't have time to joke today." He then turned around to face Hades again. "No if you excuse me," he started, walking out of the grove's shadows. "I have a match soon."

* * *

The morning after Rain's sacrifice and Dayne's emotional breakdown, Sora woke up in the unfamiliar bed in Clyde and Allister's apartment with a loud yawn.

As the young teen rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms, a sudden jolt of energy shot up into his palms, as his Keyblade was summoned into his hand. Weird as this was, the Keyblade's sudden appearance wasn't the oddest thing. No, the truly odd thing is that, for the second time since this journey had begun, the Keyblade had changed its form again! This time, going from the black Oblivion back into its simplest form. The yellow and silver of the Kingdom Key shining in the morning light.

"What the?" Sora exclaimed.

Roxas chose this moment to chime in. _Hooray! Looks like I get my Keyblade back!_

_You still don't get Oathkeeper._ Sora noted mentally.

_Eh. It's a little girly for my tastes. If I could only have one of them, I would prefer Oblivion._

Sora waved his original Keyblade through the air, feeling the familiar balance, watching its movement. The Keyblade that had served him from the very beginning. _Still...this bugs me. First it goes from Ultima Weapon to Oblivion. And now its back to the Kingdom Key._

It was an odd thing. Especially since the only explanation they had to go on was Rain's explanation that Sora's weapon turned into Oblivion to compliment Kairi's Oathkeeper. But now...for what reason had it gone back to the original weapon?

_Maybe Cassius was right._ Sora thought. The brief exchange he had with the Immortal leader had been biting at him all through the night. _Maybe I am weak, so the Keyblade turned back to its weakest form._

_You're not weak man._

_Okay, maybe not weak. But...weak by comparison. Face it, when compared to Kairi or Riku or Dayne, I'm just not up to snuff. I can't even take on an Immortal by myself, let alone fully defeat one._

_Hey, I know you better than anyone out there, so trust me when I say, you're not weak. You didn't match up to the Organization at first, and soon enough, they were dropping left and right. Just give it time, and you'll be able to go with the best of them._

_Mhmm..._ To be honest, even though Cassius's comments still stung, there was something else on the forefront of his mind. _Hey, yesterday, when I was fighting Rosa, did you hear another voice in my head?_

_No._ Sora was preparing to either go off on Roxas, or prepare to get an earful of comments about him hearing more voices. _But before you get on my case, Namine and I have been exhausted since Twilight Town. Most of the time, we don't even have the energy to stay conscious in your guys' heads, let alone wonder in our spirit forms. I think we finally got all our energy back though._

_Huh._ Sora called his Keyblade back, and pulled the covers off of his bed. _Then what was that voice? Was the stress of battle causing me to imagine it?_

_Don't know._ Roxas paused for a second. _Hey, I smell something good._

Sora was about to question how Roxas could smell anything when he got a whiff of the air too. Something did smell good! Without a second thought, Sora, still in his pyjamas, raced out of the guest room and into the roomy kitchen. He found Allister, Clyde, and Kairi, with Kairi at the kitchen's island, and Allister at the stovetop, working away at a frying pan, which apparently contained whatever smelled so good.

"Mornin' sunshine!" Allister greeted, giving the contents of the pan a flip. "Kairi told me that the smell of food would be a sure-fire way to get you up."

"Good morning," Kairi said with a sly smile, as Sora made his way up to the island. "You lazy bum." She then reached over and kissed her budding boyfriend lightly on the cheek. Sora blushed a bit, and Clyde chuckled softly to himself.

"Why did you do that?" Sora asked nervously. It was no Kairi's turn to blush.

"I dunno..." She said, shyly. "I just...I just felt like doing it."

Feeling the awkwardness, Sora decided to switch the subject. Looking about, he asked. "Hey, where's Dayne?"

"He's still sleeping." Allister replied, taking down some plates from a nearby cupboard.

"Really?" Sora asked, a little incredulous. "Well, what time is it?"

"Nine-thirty." Clyde replied.

"That's odd." Kairi said. "I've never heard of him sleeping in past six..."

Sora spoke up. "He deserves to rest." Kairi nodded, as Allister approached the opposite side of the island, placing down a plated omelet before each of the Keybladers.

"Viola!" He said with a flourish. "My trademark omelet." He pointed to the two dishes with one hand, and passed out forks and knives with the other. "That's mushrooms, peppers, spicy sausage, ham, and three types of cheeses, perfect for hungry heroes like yourself."

Not denying the "hungry heroes" comment, the two dug into their breakfast, savouring the tasty dish the young swordsman had prepared for them.

"Wow, Al," Kairi said in amazement. "This is really good! I think this might be the best omelet I've ever had in my life."

Sora added his praise. "She's right. It's delicious!" Considering that Sora's mother was no slouch at the stove herself, and he had grown up on her cooking, it was high praise indeed.

"Thank you," Allister said with a bow. "I do so love to cook."

"Yeah." Clyde added. "He's pretty excellent...for a sand-blasted grease monkey!"

Al's mouth turned to a hard line. "I thought I told you not to call me that!" He turned back to teens, his chipper attitude returning. "Can I get you two something to drink?"

"Do you have any orange juice?" Kairi asked. Allister procured a carton of OJ and two glasses.

"You tell me lots of things," Clyde commented, leaning back in his chair. "Like not to bring a loaded gun into the bathroom."

Allister passed out the glasses full of juice, before turning back to Clyde. "That's because the last time, you shot out the faucet!"

Clyde ignored the dig and turned back to Kairi and Sora. "So, what do you two have planned for today? You gonna wait around for Dayne to wake up and then leave or...?"

"Couldn't say." Sora replied, taking a sip of juice before continuing. "I guess we will be leaving when Dayne gets up..."

"I have an idea." Kairi spoke up. "We've had it pretty rough the past few days, to say the least... So I was thinking, Sora, we could go out today, um, together, for the day, and just spend time together?"

"You mean...like a date?" Sora asked.

"Um...yeah," Kairi said, uneasy and blushing, "I mean, I think it's about time we have one."

Sora turned to face her and smiled softly, "Yeah, I like that idea." She returned the smile. Clearly, even though they were still in the awkward phases of the relationship, but they were in a relationship nonetheless and wanted to work at it, even though they had to save the worlds and all that wonderful goodness while doing so.

Collecting the cleared plates from the island, Allister broke in. "Well that's all fine and good, but a little warning to the both of you if you are going out." Sora and Kairi turned to the Al-Bhed. "The public knows the two of you are here, and they know that Kairi is the Princess. The royal family is still very much loved by the people, and Sora, well, to say the least, you're very popular with kids and teenage girls. So, unless you want to be trampled by fans and worshipers, I would try and keep a low profile."

"I guess I can't wear my regular outfit, can I?" Sora joked.

Kairi laughed a little bit. "Wait a minute. What do we do about Dayne?"

"Don't worry about him." Clyde said. "You two deserve a day off. Speaking of which, we have the day off too, so we'll keep Dayne entertained until you get back. You guys can go out, have fun, see the sights, and return later tonight to leave, okay?"

The two nodded. "Alright." Kairi said. "Do you mind if I use the shower first, Sora?" She asked. The brunette shook his head no, and Kairi got off of her bar stool.

"Down the hall, third door to the left." Allister directed, and the redhead ran off. When she was in the bathroom, Allister came up behind Sora, and clasped his hand down on the young Keyblade Master's shoulder.

"You're a lucky kid, Sora."

"Yeah, I know." Sora replied with a smile on his face.

"Just do us a favour, and don't lose her."

Sora looked puzzled at the wording "'Do us a favour'? What do you mean by that?"

Allister grinned. "Believe me, I know what it means when girls have that look on their face. She's totally smitten. And all she wants, is to be with you, no matter what the situation."

"One problem though," Sora countered, drawing Al's interest. "Her father is a complete psycho."

Allister laughed at that. "Believe me kid, when it concerns their daughters, all father's are a little nuts. Some more so than others."

* * *

To compensate with the amount of warriors involved in the Gauntlet, Phil and Hercules had constructed three makeshift rings in the plains around the Coliseum. They were nothing more than shallow pits dug into the earth, with the same barrier producing magic added along the cusp of the pit, and wooden stands constructed around it, with an entrance cut in between the stands for the fighters to enter.

Being that the Gauntlet was divided into four quadrants, Riku and the Elric couldn't keep an eye on all their competition, but they weren't impressed by what they saw at their ring. A throng of various thugs, brawlers, soldiers, Spartans, gladiators, and bruisers had gathered around the competitor entrance to the Gauntlet. This was going to be a breeze.

So, while waiting for their turn to participate (they were placed at the bottom of the card), Riku realized he hadn't finished his conversation with Dawn.

_Dawn! Hey, Dawn!_

_What is it cutie?_

Riku winced. _I wish you would stop calling me that._

_Okay, Riku-kun!_

He couldn't win with this girl. _Anyways... You were talking about sensing a Keyblade candidate last time we talked?_

_Oh yeah! Sorry, that snarky Elric kid got me fumed when he interrupted me. Anyway, I sensed a candidate for the Blank Medallion._

_I know that. Can you tell me anything else about him? Or her? Like, what they look like, where they might be? Even a vague idea of their location?_

_Sorry Riku, no can do. Normally I could give you more information, but something is blocking my ability to sense spiritual presences. Some kind of powerful being. I wish I could be of more help..._

_It's alright Dawn, just knowing there is something specific we have to do is enough for me._

Riku brought his focus back to reality, as a man wearing a toga and holding a stone slate approached the throng of warriors.

"Okay gentlemen, last match for this heat. Current time to beat here is five minutes and thirty-one seconds." He raised his head and called out. "'Riku and the Elrics'?" Riku signaled him and he called them forward. "You're next."

The three proceeded up the makeshift entrance tunnel into the pit, the capacity crowd cheering and yelling. Although, because the trio were unknowns on the tournament scene, the crowd was just cheering and chanting for the sake of cheering and chanting. It was definitely something else, being lauded and cheered for fighting, was a foreign concept to the Elric brothers and Riku. Never the less, when the Heartless showed up, they took their fighting stances like it was any other battle, the crowd becoming and afterthought.

The concept for the Gauntlet was, as Phil said, ten rounds of Heartless. The first nine rounds were of a random number and variety of the various weaker breeds of Heartless, ranging from Shadows to Invisibles and anywhere in between, with waves consisting of a pair of Heartless, to over a dozen. The final wave though, was one random "boss" Heartless.

The wave started simple enough, with a small set of Red Nocturnes, Blue Rhapsodies, a Spring Metal, and a Scarlet Tango. The magic-based Heartless were taken care of quick enough, with Al and Ed firing stone missiles from the ground, and Riku shooting Dawn energy blasts.

The waves continued on, with most Heartless not posing much of a threat, and most of them being the same breeds the groups had seen time after time.

Two exceptions to the rule were introduced in the ninth wave, with the appearance of two new Heartless breeds, the Spectral Reapers and the Mad Mantids.

The Reapers were floating Heartless, looking like cartoon skeletons wearing scarlet cloaks and carrying a sickle and a ball and chain. The Mantids were insect-type Heartless, looking like large mantises. Each one were covered in a black and green carapace, with a triangular upper body, a disk-like lower body, six spindly legs, and two large, scythe-like claws.

The new Heartless, fearsome though they looked, weren't much of a deterrent to the Keybladers and alchemists. The ninth wave came and went, leading to the final, "boss" wave.

With a gout of ice shooting up from the center of the ring, a Blizzard Lord appeared, shaking its massive gut and swinging its staff about, as to try and threaten the team.

It didn't work.

"Wow, they're making this too easy." Riku commented with a grin. Ed chucked too, before raising Fullmetal Fury into the air. A red transmutation symbol appeared above its tip, and instantly afterwards, a whirl of fire came shooting down from the sky, catching and burning the rotund Heartless.

It dissolved and fell apart, splitting into a small army of Chilly Cubes. The tiny Heartless ran about the arena, but Al was ready. He quickly drew a transmutation circle into the dirt with the tip of his boot, before accessing it, causing an set of needle-like spikes to shooting up to impale the Cubes. As soon as that happened, the Cubes fell apart into small shavings of ice. The Blizzard Lord was apparently completely overwhelmed by the barrage, as it didn't reform at all.

As soon as it had began, the match was over.

While the referees and monitors added up the times and tried to determine a winner, the crowd was very into the lightning quick performance that Riku, Ed, and Al had given. The crowd always rewarded the skills of the competitors, and they did so here, chanting "Riku, Riku", "Edward, Edward", and "We like Alphonse". The three could even hear several girls squealing in the crowd as they returned to the waiting area outside the pit.

When they got there, they received a mixed-reaction from the others. Some openly congratulated them, others muttered their praise, while others still just glared at them. Soon after, their time was announced as two-minutes, nine-seconds! It was not only the fastest time in their heat, but also the fastest time announced so far.

With their success confirmed, the three decided to head back to the main Coliseum, and join Hercules and Phil in watching the last few matches.

"I heard you three cleaned up nicely in your heat." Phil said as they joined him and the son of Zeus at their ringside box. "The other two heats are finished up, and the winners of them already have higher times than the leader now."

"How many teams are left?" Alphonse asked.

"Just one." Hercules explained. A scowl then crossed his face, "and he happens to be Hades' personal fighter."

With that said, the emcee for the Coliseum, a small, flying blue man in a toga – Hermes, Messenger of the Gods – flew about to announce the final match of this round.

"Alright Athenians, and Spartans, its time for the final match of the preliminary round," Hermes called out, the crowd cheering for this moment. "And remember, if this fighter wins with a time of four-minutes and 15-seconds or better, he gets to move on to face the team of Riku Shiozaki, and Edward and Alphonse Elric for the right to fight Hercules!"

The crowd popped for this announcement. Walking down onto the raised platform of the ring, was Hades' fighter. He was a man of average height and build, wearing very peculiar clothes – for this world at least. He wore a large, dun brown poncho that covered the entirety of his upper body, hiding whatever he wore underneath it. The majority of his slightly muscular arms were bare, except for a pair of thick, grey, arm-length gloves. He also wore a pair of very worn, dark blue jeans, and brown boots, with a scabbard and short sword strapped to his belt, hanging parallel to his waist off of his back. To top the outfit off, resting atop a head of copper coloured head that fanned out at the sides and back, was a worn, dun-coloured cowboy hat.

The crowd seemed to have a mixed-reaction to the warrior. Some were clearly uneasy that he was Hades' proxy, while others still cheered him nonetheless, people clearly used to seeing this man in competitions.

Edward of course, decided to make a snide comment on his fashion sense. "Wow, talk about an anachronism."

"I don't think he's an anachronism." Riku said. "Anachronism refers to the past, in this world, he's something completely else." He then turned back to Phil and Herc. "Who is he?"

"Trowan Enkian" Hercules explained. "He just showed up here a couple of months ago, completely out of nowhere. Nobodies know where he came from, but definitely not from around here. I don't know much else about him, except that he has been doing quite well for himself in several cups and tournaments in the past few weeks."

Turning back to the fight, Trowan had already beaten his way through several waves. He had drawn his sword, which turned out to be a double-edged xiphos sword. He was very quick with his sword work, slashing and cutting any Heartless that came near him, with one blow lethal enough to finish them off (which immediately got Riku's attention). He also had a unique style of fighting, seamlessly switching between a forehand slash and a backhand style, stabbing, slashing, tearing, cutting, and ripping through each Heartless and wave like it was nothing.

Obviously, Trowan was no run of the mill warrior. No wonder Hades had selected him.

In no time at all, the boss wave came, with Trowan's round coming to an end in a big way. In a burst of blackness, a massive Behemoth Heartless appeared, nearly taking up the entire space of the ring. Showing no hesitation, Trowan bounded up the left leg of the Behemoth, instantly getting atop the massive beast. With one quick slash, Trowan sliced right through the horn, taking it right off, before finishing it off with a single downward stab into the base of the horn.

With a massive shudder, the Behemoth fell to its feet, Trowan leaped off its head, and the beast began to fade into darkness.

The crowd erupted into uproarious applause at the tremendous amount of skill displayed by the sword-wielding cowboy. In short order, Hermes announced the time, with Trowan finishing at a shocking two-minutes and fourty-four seconds! The crowd cheered even more, but Riku was stunned.

Al saw Riku's face, and noted the panic in it. "What's wrong Riku? Sure, we may have to face him, but we still had a better time than him."

"Yeah, Al, we did have a better time." Riku replied. "The three of us had a better time! He maybe forty seconds behind us, but he was by himself." Riku gazed directly at Trowan, who was currently raising his sword in appreciation for the crowd.

Something deep in the Warrior of Dawn stirred. He knew that Trowan was fighting for Hades, which would be trouble in of itself. But there was something else about this whole situation that was nagging at Riku's soul. It made him feel uncomfortable, and whenever he felt uncomfortable, he knew some kind of trouble was on the horizon.

Meanwhile, Trowan was looking at Riku and the Elrics with his peripheral vision, studying his soon to be opponents. _Sorry kiddies,_ he though, still holding his sword high in the air, _You're not going to stand in my way._

_I have something to fight for._

* * *

Deep inside the heart of Infinity Paradiso, in the meeting room located at the center of the Paradisium castle, the remaining Immortals were in a heated conversation.

Although the loss of Josef and Rosa came to no blow to the order, Cassius's surprising death was definitely difficult to deal with. Cassius's power and cool manner seemed to be all that could contain the arrogance and tempers of the other members. Now, they were a rampaging, headless dragon.

A four-way battle for leadership was underway between Kira, Kaiser, Tallgeese, and Aeron, and each had their own reasons to be leader. Kira was the second-ranked Immortal, and one of the strongest overall. Kaiser was currently the longest serving Immortal and ranked third, in addition to being a member of the mysterious Royal Guard of the Immortals. Aeron, while very lowly ranked, was fairly strong, and also a Royal Guard member. Tallgeese was in consideration for also being a senior serving Immortal, being a strong warrior, and a confidant of Cassius when he was alive.

The other Immortals could only sit around and watch while the others bickered loudly at the meeting table. Both Arianne and Creed could have challenged for leadership, but neither felt like doing so. The remaining three, Ramziel, Starxys, and Vanielle could only sit around uselessly, and voice their support for one member or another.

Starxys had meekly suggested doing a democratic vote, and was currently getting chewed out by Kaiser. "That crappy music of yours must have turned you brains to mush if you think democracy would work in this situation!" He snarled loudly, the musician cowering in the corner. "There is only one way to decide who should lead. A fight! Survival of the fittest! Last Immortal standing wins!" He dug his claws deep into the ivory table for emphasis.

"Please," Tallgeese derided in a tone of superiority. "Fighting is your answer to every problem Kaiser. I am the only Immortal with the intellect and cunning to lead us to the End and beyond to our one and true glory!"

Kaiser clawed at the table some more. "Shut it bolts-for-brains! We don't need intelligence, we need pure strength to sweep our enemies and crush them in one final blow!"

"No," Aeron chimed in arrogantly. "We need to inject some young blood into our leadership. All of you old timers have forgotten how to operate in this Realm. You need me more than I need you!"

"By the chain of command, leadership should pass to me." Kira intoned deeply, still sporting wounds from his fight with Kairi.

"Ha! Yeah right." Kaiser chortled. "You just wanna wear a crown and lead, Beggar Prince!"

"What did you call me?" Kira raged, rising to his feet and reaching for his sword.

"Enough of this squabbling!"

At the sound of the booming order, ever Immortal was stopped and silenced, as they turned to the opening of the chamber.

Two tall figures entered the chamber, each wearing long, hooded white cloaks. Both were at an even height, with the one on the right being very skinny, and the one on the left being of a more average build.

The right figure spoke, his voice very light and lyrical, clearly not the speaker who have the booming edict. "Honestly, they can't go ten minutes without us. It's sad really." He said to the other figure.

"Very much so." This was the speaker of the silencing command. His voice was very cold, but commanding and strong. "They've degenerated into a pack of wolves. Very sad. Those foolish heroes were right..."

"Who the hell are you?" Kaiser asked, sneering savagely at the newcomers.

"Why, we are your leaders." The left figure said. "Come to take the reigns of the Immortals once more.

"Doubtful." Tallgeese replied. "I've never seen either of you in my life. What makes you think you are the leaders of us?"

Without any hesitation, the two threw off their hoods, revealing their faces to the other nine. Silence turned to absolute shock for some. Creed only showed a little interest at the revelation, while Kaiser's face flashed through multiple emotions. First shock, then annoyance, and then he broke out into a mad, braying laugh.

"Well..." He drawled in between chuckles. "It looks like things around here, just got a little more interesting."

**To Be Continued**

_Well, it seems the plot thickens__. Any ideas on who those two figures may be?  
_

**Chapter Preview**

_Riku: I stand across the ring, facing a mysterious man. He's fighting for a villain, but he says that he is fighting for something more important than Hades or Hercules._

_Trowan: I know you don't agree with my methods, but trust me, this is the only way. Don't you have something in your life that's worth sacrificing everything for?_

_Riku: Yeah...I do, but-_

_Trowan: But nothing! If I have to make a deal with the devil to find my way, then so be it!_

_Riku: Trowan, you don't know what you're getting into. There has to be another way!_

_Trowan: I wish there was, but its this, or I lose the most important thing in the world to me. Now, will you stand down, or do I have to show you my true strength?_

_Next Chapter: Summoning the power, to fight for your life! **Genesis of Destiny Chapter 31: Always A Chance!**_

_Trowan: With my power and my purpose, nothing will stop me. Nothing!_

_

* * *

_

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	31. Always A Chance

_Warning, the following Author's Notes contain spoilers for Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep._

_A few days ago, I received a review from a fan, with a question that caught my interest. Now, this is not a rant against the review or the reviewer, just something I want to address._

_Although, it is still a rant._

_The review is for Chapter 27 and goes as followed:_

_"Was that person talking to Sora mentally Xion?_"

_There are two answers to this question. A long one, and a short one._

_The short answer is: no, the voice was not Xion and she will not be appearing in Genesis of Destiny_

_The long answer is: no, the voice was not Xion and she will not be appearing in Genesis of Destiny because I HATE HER! This may make me some blood enemies, but I don't care! This needs to be said. Xion is an AWFUL character! In all my years of playing video games, I have never, ever met a character I utterly despise more! Her very existence causes me a great amount of pain! Everytime I see her, I want take a stylus, and GOUGE her eyes out! She is absolutely uninteresting, unlikeable, unoriginal and a complete waste of a character!_

_Her entir character is just an amalgamation of Sora, Kairi, Roxas, and Namine! There is nothing original about her! And all of the character traits she STOLE from those four happen to be the negative traits! She constantly hogs the spotlight from who should be starring in the game, Roxas, Axel, and Namine. And yes, 358/2 Days is her game! I don't know about you, but I thought it was suppose to be "The Story of Roxas" not "The Story of Xion featuring Roxas"!_

_Her character was so hap-hazardly inserted in the plot, they was no foreshadowing of her existence, whatsoever! She's just there! And to make it worse, she just freaking dies at the end of the game! WHY WAS THAT NECCESSARY! Why did she have to exist if she was just going to die! And to make things worse, to cover the writer's asses and block all plot holes, everyone forgets about her and everything about her ceases to exist. You pulled that BS in Chain of Memories Nomura, you can't do it twice!"_

_But wait! That MacGuffin that was suppose to clean all plot holes, creates an even bigger plot hole! At the end of 358, Roxas inherits Xion's Keyblade. And in KH2, he still has Xion's Keyblade! HOW! If everything about Xion stops existing when she dies, then how does Roxas still have her Keyblade? This girl bends the plot and canon on the games to her will!_

_So, I shall never, ever, EVER feature this horrid, horrid thing in any of my stories. And I can also take solace in the fact that she is dead, and will never come back..._

_But wait! According to the secret ending of Birth By Sleep, Xion is one of the "important people" connected to Sora's heart._

_..._

_GOD DAMN IT! I HATE THIS CHARACTER!  
_

Chapter 31: Always A Chance

Following his match, Trowan found himself just outside the Coliseum's commissary, getting a meal before his match with Riku and the Elrics, which was scheduled to occur in two hours. Trowan was usually a very popular fighter, and post-match usually found himself swamped with adoring fans, mostly women, children, and their parents. Their was still a throng of fans mingling around his general area, but all of them looked at him with a mix of adoration and apprehension, afraid to approach the Grecian desperado. Working for Hades had its downsides...well, it was pretty much _all_ downsides..

Trowan finished the last bit of his water, when Hades appeared next to his table in a puff of smoke. A scuffing noise was heard, as the people near Trowan backed away from the Lord of the Underworld.

Trowan wiped his mouth with the back of his glove. "It seems our business relationship is putting a damper on my fan base."

Hades chuckled. "Ah, its a one time thing. After today's finale, when you wipe the floor with that silver-haired poser, you're gonna be the biggest star in the history of the Coliseum! By the way, nice moves today in the prelims. I haven't seen fighting like that in eons!" The god began to shadow box, with Trowan just looking bored.

The young man withdrew his xiphos and a small whet stone from his boot. He began to sharped his sword. "You know, I'm not in the mood for small talk now. What do you want?"

"Down to business," Hades grinned maliciously. "I like that in a mercenary. So, how are you feeling about the finals?"

"Can't say." Trowan shrugged. He spun his blade around and started to sharpen the other side. "They look strong, and I always relish a good fight. But, they are very strong and there are three of them. I dunno if I can actually win."

"And what if you were to just fight the leader of their little fight club?" Hades asked. Trowan shrugged again.

"By 'leader' I take it you mean Riku." Hades nodded. "He looks like a strong kid. It could go either way, but I would have a better chance against him than against all three."

"Well, what would you say if yours truly could make that happen?"

Trowan looked suspiciously at the blue-skinned god. "What are you getting at?"

Hades began to drift away from his hired warrior. "I just came from a meeting with the stubborn old goat, and we came to an agreement." With another puff of smoke, he warped to behind Trowan, putting an arm on his shoulder. "And that agreement was, make the Gauntlet finals one-on-one or I unleash the Heartless en masse on the spectators!"

"What?" Trowan said with a start, rising up from his chair.

"Well, not in so many words." Hades replied in a nonchalant manner. "But I think I got my point across." He saw the look of anger and distrust on Trowan's face. "Hey, hey, calm down Sundance. I'm doing this all for you."

"For me?" Trowan asked in a bitter tone. "Threatening innocents is for me?"

"Oh it is, most definitely." Hades said back. "Because you see, I've had to change our deal. In addition to killing ol' Wonder Jerk, you're now going to kill that silver-haired twerp!"

Trowan stopped short for a second, gritting his teeth. He had to weigh his words carefully, Hades was his the only way. "May I ask why?"

"Well," Hades began with a tilt of his head. "Turns out Super Punk used to be the apprentice of an old friend and colleague of mine. And I can only imagine what kind of power dear old Maleficent will impart onto me, when I impart the corpse of the kid onto her."

Trowan began to walk away almost instantly. "I'll kill Hercules, as we originally planned. But that kid's done nothing, and I don't care about whatever honours this friend of yours will impart on you. I'm only killing Hercules because Zeus won't let you do it directly, I doubt he'll extend the protection to this kid. No deal."

Taking a step away and back to the Coliseum, Trowan was suddenly seized by the neck and hurled backwards, crashing into his table and going over it. It took every bit of Trowan's dexterity to keep his hat on.

A very angry god of the dead, now decked out in his red flames, grabbed Trowan by the front of his poncho and hoisted him off the ground. Everyone who had come to see Trowan had fled in terror.

"Listen cowboy!" Hades snarled, breathing hellishly hot smoke into Trowan's face. "You don't get to tell me 'no deal'! You don't get to change the deal! I have all the power here! I'm the only one who's gonna listen to you! I'm the only one able to get you back to your home! So I'm telling you this right now! You're gonna kill Riku, you're gonna kill Hercules, and you're gonna do a damn fine job of it!" He then hurled the hired fighter away. "And if you don't, then I'll make sure you never find your way home.

"EVER!"

And with that, Hades vanished in a puff of smoke and flame.

Groaning and coughing, Trowan tilted his hat forward, over his forehead, and got himself to his feet, seething and feeling useless. Unable to do anything about his situation, he fell back to his regular form of compensation.

Comedy.

"Yeah, well... you're paying for my food! You! Waiter! More of everything!"

* * *

"Well, good afternoon, sunshine."

Dayne walked into the kitchen/living room of Allister and Clyde's apartment, yawning and with eyes laced with sleep, dressed only in the sweatpants he slept in. He was unperturbed to the fact that he was both half naked and that Leon had joined the two off-duty Guardians. He yawned loudly, and stretched out his arms, shaking his head to boot.

"'Afternoon'?" He repeated. "What time is it?"

"Just a little past noon." Allister replied. He instinctively placed himself close to the fridge and stove. "What can I get you to eat?"

"Coffee." Dayne said instantly. "I take it black. And anything that has a lot of protein in it." Instead of sitting at the island, Dayne plopped down on the couch and began to rub the sleep out of his eyes with the palms of his hands. "So, what are you doing here, Squall?"

"Leon." The brunette warrior insisted.

"Right." Dayne mumbled back.

Leon continued, unabated. "I'm here discussing the little...situation the Garden is currently in."

"Situation?" Dayne asked, tilting his head back to face Leon slightly. Allister bolted over to the couch and placed a cup of steaming hot coffee on the side table.

"Yes. A lot of it revolves around those battles you were in yesterday." Leon began to explain. "Specifically, those two explosions of flame. Many people are worried about what might happen in the future."

Dayne took an experimental sip of his coffee. "Just tell them its a one-time event. And that the Keybladers took care of it."

"But its not a one-time event. Considering the large scale attack the Organization and Heartless unleashed a few months ago, this is the second time we've had malicious beings on this world that could destroy the reformed Garden." Leon hunched over and clutched at his chin with his index finger and thumb. "Many people, senators included, are worried that without the Keyblade Masters on this world, the Garden will die soon enough."

"'Senators'?" This was the first Dayne had heard of senators in the Garden.

"Well, its sort of an off-shoot of Royal Councilors," In Radiant Garden history, the Royal Councilors were a group of people, elected by the people of the kingdom, that acted as advisors and assistants to the monarchy. They acted as traveling diplomats, handled with more petty matters, and were the closest thing to a democratic system the people of the Garden had. "Its a group of elected people who run the Garden in the absence of the monarchy, until we either get a new monarch, or we finally decide to convert to a democracy."

"Leon, Merlin, and Aerith all serve as senators." Clyde piped in.

"This of course brings us into our other problem," Leon started again. "There are a few members of the senate who want to force Kairi to stay here, now that she is finally back on-world."

This piqued Dayne's interest. "Why?"

"Not only is she the rightful heir, the last heir in fact, to the Garden, she is a Keyblade Master." Leon explained. "It solves two problems. We have our monarchy back, and we have this supposed perfect defence against any threats we may face."

"I think thats a bad idea..." Dayne said. He took a sip of his coffee while Allister, Clyde, and Leon looked shocked at his words. After drinking, he looked back at their faces. "What?" Apparently his support for Kairi as Queen was well known. "Don't get me wrong, I think she should take the crown eventually, but, she has something more important to do right now." The conversation ended, Dayne took another quick sip of his coffee. "Where are Sora and Kairi, by the way?"

Alarm crossed Clyde's face. "Oh...well, they're on...a date."

Dayne's disapproval of Sora was also apparently well known, as both Allister and Clyde expected him to fly off into a bloody rage at the admission that the young couple were on their first date. But, to their surprise, Dayne just nodded slowly and drank more of his coffee. "Oh. That's nice..." He mumbled lowly.

Scratching his head and watching Dayne, Clyde noticed something about the tall warrior. "Hey, Dayne," he began shrewdly, "what's that on your back?"

Without a second of hesitation, Dayne replied, "It's the Mark."

Starting about forty-years-ago, the night before their graduation ceremony, graduates of the Radiant Guardian Academy would go out and get what they called "The Mark". It was nothing more than a simple tattoo, but it was considered a badge of honour amongst the Guardians and graduates.

"Hmm," Allister noted with interest from the kitchen, currently cutting something up. "Here I thought you would be too mature to get the Mark."

"Well, me and a couple of guys from my class hit the bar before we got to the tattoo parlour, so I was drunk..." Dayne admitted sheepishly. "You two both have Marks?"

"Hell yeah!" Clyde hooted. "Nowadays, everyone gets a Mark."

"Well I'll show mine if you show yours."

Clyde raised his left arm up and pulled his sleeve down, his Mark tattooed to the back of his forearm. All Marks had to follow one rule, they had to be a modified version of the Radiant Guardian's symbol. Each Mark was placed on a sky blue shield like the Guardian's seal, but the four silver stars were replaced by a personalized symbol for each graduate. Clyde's tattoo featured a pair of golden fleur-de-lis on the shield.

Allister took off his right glove and opened his palm to reveal a set of twelve violet stars arranged like a bolt of forked lightning upon the blue shield.

Dayne studied each Marks, before Clyde opened his mouth. "I still don't get yours." He said to Allister. The Al-Bhed sighed loudly.

"I told you two-years-ago, if you don't get after me explaining it ten-times, you're never going to get it." He snapped in a hushed voice. He then turned to Dayne and said, "So, you gonna show yours?"

Dayne grinned slightly before standing up, back still to the other two Guardians. His Mark was placed between his broad shoulder blades, the shield of the Guardians being home to a large black and crimson swallowtail butterfly, not unlike the one found on so many of his jackets.

At the sight of the large tattoo, Allister whistled sharply in an impressed manner, and Clyde quipped, "I think he wins."

"Like I said," Dayne began, "I was drunk when I got this."

Leon finally spoke up again. "While that pissing contest was truly fascinating, I some work to do." He got up and walked to the door, before adding in a mumbled voice, "Like making sure the senators don't know Kairi is walking around the city unescorted..."

Dayne blinked. "He was an odd teen a decade ago, and he's an odd adult."

Clyde nodded behind his back and then said, "So, gentle giant, what are you up to today?"

"I don't know." Dayne said sullenly. He then paused for a moment, sitting back down and taking a moment to take reality in. Rain was gone. It was like walking without a left leg. He wasn't mourning as extremely as before, but...life just seemed a whole lot more complicated after you lose somebody you've spent thirty-years with.

Finally, Dayne replied. "I have an idea." He turned back to Allister, who was still making his food. "The castle is closed for repairs, right?"

"Yeah," Allister responded, reaching in the fridge for a the mustard and mayonnaise. "Closed off except for the workmen. And special exceptions of course."

"Do you think you two could let me spend an hour or two in the library?"

"Sure we can," Clyde answered. "But, why?"

Dayne leaned back and smiled. "Just something I want to do for Kairi." Suddenly, Allister appeared next to the side table again, placing a plate containing a large sandwich down on it.

"That's mustard, mayo, salt, pepper, lettuce, tomato, pepper jack cheese, ham, turkey, bacon, capicola, salami, and brushetta," the warrior-chef explained to his incredulous diner. "On whole wheat. That enough protein?"

* * *

"What do you mean its now one-on-one?"

Low and behold, as Riku and the Elrics walked into the Coliseum's fighting grounds for their final match with Trowan, Phil and Hercules came running out to block their path and told the trio that the fight was now a one-on-one contest between Riku and Trowan.

"Its...its a way to make it nice and fair for everyone..." Phil stammered nervously. Riku did not buy it for a second.

"Fess up," Riku replied sternly. "If you wanted to make this contest nice and fair, you would have told everyone that the teams would be adjusted to make the finals even. Something happened, now tell us."

Hercules scratched the back of his head and spoke in a sheepish way. "We're ashamed of this, but Hades has roped us into doing this."

"How?" Al asked.

"He said he would let the Heartless loose on the spectators if we didn't make it a single fight." Phil replied. He then turned his head and muttered, "At least I think he did, he was being weaselly and indirect about it..."

"Great," Riku groaned angrily. Ed shared the white-haired Keyblader's sentiments.

"You're letting that walking fire hazard rope us into this?" He questioned. "Why do you let him get away with crap like this?"

"He's a God kid," Phil replied, "Its not that easy..."

Ed blew a raspberry. "Yeah, well, I don't believe in Gods..." Phil blinked incredulously.

"You don't believe in Gods?" The hero trainer exclaimed in a half-chuckle. "Kid, when it comes to your beliefs, you're as stubborn as a goat. And I'm half goat, so that's saying something."

"Bite me!" Ed spat. Riku held up a hand for silence.

"Cool it you two." He admonished in a cold manner. "Phil's right Ed. Like it or not, we don't have a lot of choice in the matter. I have to fight this guy by myself, and knowing Hades, he's picked someone who knows his way around a duel."

Ed frowned at Riku's acquiescence, but it was Al to speak up. "Okay Riku," the younger brother said. "We believe you can win this, but if anything fishy happens, we'll be right there to back you up."

Hercules nodded. "Well said, Alphonse! You two can watch in our gallery at ringside."

The four left to the box, but Phil turned for one last set of advice for the lone competitor. "I got five words of wisdom for you kid: kick his butt!"

Riku cringed in mental pain. "Gee, thanks..."

With that, Phil, Herc, Ed, and Al headed to their viewing box while Riku took his place in the ring, opposite of Trowan. The dour desperado tilted his head backward, signaling he wanted to talk to Riku before the fight. Both fighters approached one another.

"I'm sorry it came down to this," Trowan said, sounding sincerely apologetic. He then titled his head to the side, directed at Hades, in his own luxury box. The Grecian God was accompanied by his two imp-like servants, Pain and Panic, using the squat Pain as a foot stool and having Panic hold a smoking goblet of liquid like a side table. "I would much rather fight all three of you, but my boss is a bit of a pain in the ass."

"Why are you doing this?" Riku asked. It was something that had bothered him since he first saw Trowan a few hours ago. He didn't sense any kind of malice in him, and could only imagine that Hades was paying him in some way.

"Because... is there something in your life that means the world to you?" Trowan responded, gazing under the brim of his hat with dark green eyes. "Something you would do anything to protect or see again?"

"Yeah," Riku replied quietly, in a solemn tone. "There are two people – my friends – I nearly lost them forever...but now, I never want to lose them again. I want to protect them from everything, and just want them to be happy." A light smile crossed Riku's face, as he looked down at the ground, "I'm their guardian in a way. I could care less what happens to me, as long as they are happy."

"Well," Trowan began, taking in Riku's words. "There is something like that for me out there." Trowan look skyward, his eyes looking beyond the clear sky and shining sun, to a place unknown. "There is something I lost, and I need to find again. Or at least see with my own eyes that its gone for good. Sad as I am to admit, Hades is the only way I can find it. I will do anything, even making a deal with the devil himself."

Once more, Riku could feel the sincerity coming from Trowan, in voice and body. Whatever it was he had lost, he wanted it again. And whatever this was, it seemed Trowan had lost more than a material item. It could be a friend, a lover, a home. Riku felt Trowan's pain, that agonizing desire of trying to accomplish one's dream, of recovering something lost.

_I don't want to shatter this guy's dream..._ Riku was fighting himself internally. He had a duty to do, but what gave him the right to prevent Trowan from finding the one thing he wanted in life. Hell, it seemed Trowan wanted this more than life itself. _But, I can't let him get to Hercules. Who knows what Hades will do when he gets a clear shot at him. I have to win... Desires be damned!_

Riku looked back at his opponent, aqua eyes burning brightly. "Trowan, I don't want to do this, but I need to win. No hard feelings." He extended his hand.

The modern strange cowboy glanced sideways at Riku, before returning the gesture and shaking Riku's hand, as a show of respect. "I understand. I bear you no ill will either, but I have to do, what I have to do."

And with that, the two broke apart and returned to their original positions. The barrier appeared around the ring, with several wooden crated and barrels materializing throughout the ring as well, acting as cover and obstacles.

Hermes' voice rang out from above, filling the entirety of the Coliseum. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is time for our main event. Trowan vs Riku! The winner gets the right to fight Hercules. Competitors ready?

"FIGHT!"

Instantly, Riku took his stance and summoned Way to the Dawn, thinking all the while. _If I hit him with a Ray of Dawn, I can disarm him and hopefully disable him in one blow. I just need him to draw his sword..._

But Trowan did no such thing. Instead, he paused for a moment, surveyed his opponent, and then threw the front of his poncho back, turning it into a cape. Everyone could now see Trowan wore a thick black vest, that looked like it was made of the same material as a flack jacket. Attached to his belt though, was something peculiar. A nondescript brown bag was hanging heavy right off of the right side of his buckle, and attached to his hips were gun holsters! Actual gun holsters! And they each held a different revolver: a Colt peacemaker and a Colt 1851 Navy!

Instantly, Trowan drew his peacemaker and fired a round off, hitting Riku square in the thigh! The hot lead buried its way into the boy, tossing blood out as it went. Riku screamed in pain, bouncing on a single foot, before spinning to the left, narrowly dodging a second shot, and throwing himself behind a barrel.

The crowd was stunned. Even though they had seemed these weapons before, seeing working gunpowder weapons was still a marvel every time.

Riku had a different opinion about the firearms.

_GUNS! He has freaking guns! Where the hell did he get them?_ Riku looked at the bullet hole, still leaking crimson blood. The bullet had embedded itself in his thigh, and had not penetrated all the way through. It was still painful as all hell though. _That's it, when I get home, I having Sora teach me how to use Cure._

His thought was violently cut it off, as Trowan slashed through the top of the barrel covering Riku with his xiphos. Before Riku could stand up, Trowan kicked the barrel, bumping it into his opponent, and sending him scrambling to the ground.

Armed with peacemaker and xiphos, Trowan stalked his downed foe, first firing at him with his pistol. Riku quickly deflected it with Way to the Dawn, before Trowan lunged downward with his sword, and Riku rolled to avoid the slash. Before Trowan could take another shot with his Colt, Riku kicked the gunslinger's wrist, sending the pistol careening into a barrel and then scrabbling along the fighting grounds.

Using the momentum of his kick, Riku rolled back to his knees, taking a slash at Trowan from this height. The attack was easily blocked, but the white-haired teen pressed on, rising to his feet and continuing the attack with various quick strikes. Trowan switched his grip to backhand and avoided a slash to change the momentum, putting him in charge.

As the two clashed, Riku showed clear difficulty in dodging the wide-sweeping backhanded slashes of Trowan, stumbling backward and trying to avoid the various obstacles that lay in his bath. One scythe-like cut hooked around the base of the Keyblade's blade, with the violent momentum on the strike pulling the Keyblade and Riku along with the follow through. Riku was spun around by the follow through, and when he finished his twirl, he was met by a knee to the gut from Trowan, who then shoved him away and tumbling over a barrel.

The desperado rolled away to retrieve his peacemaker. Turning around, he planned to fire at a prone Riku, but was instead met by the white-haired boy, charging at him in a sudden rush. The mercenary side-stepped the charge and slash, before spinning around again for another attempted shot at Riku. He never got that chance, as the Warrior of Dawn chose to use his namesake power, firing a black and gold energy beam from the tip of his Keyblade.

With inhuman reflexes, Trowan hit the dirt before Riku could fire the Ray of Dawn attack, the beam going right over the prone Trowan.

_This guy's good._ Riku thought. Trowan twisted his body around so that he was on his back, and then finally took another shot at Riku, firing the remainder of the bullets in his peacemaker. _Even the Immortals have difficulty dodging that attack._ In another display of inhuman abilities, Riku flourished Way to the Dawn around his torso, precisely deflecting every bullet.

Trowan continued to squeeze down on his revolver's trigger, the hammer clacking uselessly as he had emptied all the chambers. Riku saw the opportunity, and dove at his opponent, stabbing his Keyblade downward. The gunslinger showcased his agility once again, rolling backwards (making sure to keep his hat on in the process) to avoid the stab. Way to the Dawn embedded itself in the earth, as Trowan got back to his feet.

Holstering his pistol, Trowan switched back to his xiphos. But before using the blade, he gave Riku a stunning kick to the chin, causing him to stagger backwards, away from his earth-implanted Keyblade. With Riku dazed, Hades' proxy lunged forward with his short sword, but could only get a glancing blow at Riku's side, as the teen managed to spin away to the left, recalling Way to the Dawn as he went. The two then started to exchange sword strikes, with the two fighters having oddly similar sword-fighting styles. Quick, one-handed slashes, designed to overwhelm an opponent with speed.

Neither could land a good hit.

Phil, Herc, and the Elrics were observing the battle with bated breath. It was now very apparent as to why Hades had picked Trowan. Although it may have been jumping the gun to say so, judging by Trowan's skills and advanced weaponry, he might prove to be the proper bane to Hercules.

"Man..." Ed huffed with an uneasy tone. He was antsy knowing he couldn't help his friend against such a well-trained opponent. "This is not looking good..."

"Whaddya mean, kid?" Phil snorted. "Sure, Riku ain't winning, but he's not losing. It's a dead heat."

"That's the problem." Ed replied, eyes trained intensely on the fight. "Riku never goes toe-to-toe with an opponent, he always overwhelms them quickly. And I imagine that Trowan still has an ace up his sleeve. Riku has to kick it into high gear, and fast."

"Well, don't forget brother," Alphonse started. Trowan had dodge a horizontal slash, following the sidestep with a punch to Riku's temple. Riku returned the favour by avoiding a spinning slash and burying Way to the Dawn in his opponent's folded poncho and down into the ground. Trowan easily tore through the clothing with his own sword, freeing himself as quick as he was caught. "Riku has his Dawn abilities, and he hasn't utilized them all too much in this fight."

"And that's another problem I've picked out." Say what you want about Ed's social skills, he was a wonderful analyst. "I think Riku is hesitating to use those skills."

"Why would he be hesitating?" Hercules asked. Ed shrugged.

"Safe bet would be he doesn't want to use them against a regular human only armed with mundane weaponry." Riku's assault had pressed Trowan up against a crate, but the cowboy-like warrior showed his resilience again, by shoving a charging Riku away with his boot, before leaping right back into the fray. "Either that, or, he thinks using them would be dishonorable, and he wants to keep things fair."

Phil turned over to Hercules, who was watching the battle, and Hades, with a neutral face. "You worried about facing him, champ?"

"I don't know." The demi-god said back to his trainer. Hades was watching the fight with a slimy grin plastered on his face. "I mean, he's a good sword-fighter, and those ranged weapons of his are...something else, but I doubt Hades would pick him just because of that. I agree with Ed about Trowan having an ace up his sleeve.

"And I'm more worried for Riku than for me."

Back to the fight, Trowan backed off for a second, twirling his sword around to switch to his backhand grip. Seeing another chance, Riku slashed at his opponent's outstretched and open hand, cutting at Trowan's wrist. A thin line of blood sprayed outward, and the pain caused Trowan to drop his xiphos in reaction.

On the advantage once more, Riku denied his opponent a chance to retrieve his sword, leaving Trowan at the mercy of Riku's quick style. Trowan tried to dance away, but he was suddenly tripped up, when he backed into another crate. The white-haired Keyblade Master went for the kill, with a lunge at Trowan's face. The desperado weaved his face away, but did so at the last moment, causing the edge of Way to the Dawn to bite deeply into the side of his cheek and ear.

Not wanting to let Riku wail away at him while he was pressed up against a corner. Trowan grabbed a nearby barrel, hurling it at Riku, the wooden container proving enough to knock Riku off balance for a moment. That was enough for the cowboy-like proxy, who promptly fell back to the other side of the ring.

Hot blood poured down Trowan's face. He could also feel a trickle of blood down on his left wrist. His xiphos was a good forty-feet away from him, his Navy only had five shots left in it, and he doubt Riku would let him reload either of his pistols. He had been pushed into a corner, and there was only one move he could make at this point, whether he liked it or not.

_This kid is good..._ Trowan thought in relish. He and Riku were eying one another down, stalking their respective foes like animals. _I never thought I would have to do this before fighting Hercules._ He gazed over for a moment at Hades, who wasn't even trying to hide how gleefully evil he was. Trowan shook his head in despair._ But I have no choice in the matter._

_For my tribe. For home._

"Sorry Riku," Trowan replied. Conversation was a good distraction tactic, Riku didn't even see Trowan unhooking the brown pouch from his belt. "But I have all but sealed victory at this point."

"Really?" Riku questioned with a cocked eyebrow. "And how are you going to do that with only one pistol with ammo in it?"

Trowan pulled the bag open, and reached into it. "I'm going to show you my true power!" He declared with a powerful confidence Riku had not seen in the dour desperado. "It's a true testament to how strong you our, that you get to see this." From his pouch, Trowan withdrew... a small crystal shard. A tiny shard, no bigger than his index finger, shining steel grey with ripples of yellow, blue, and green.

"What the?" Riku said, at a lost for words. Everyone was. Trowan was always seen with that heavy pouch under his poncho, but nobody knew what was contained in it and what purpose they served. The crowd was hushed into silence, their attention focused on Trowan and his crystal.

Clipping the bag back on his belt, Trowan cut the air with the shard, his entire body brimming with yellow and electric blue energy.

"The incantation that imparts wondrous wisdom and wreaks havoc! Sage White!" Trowan chanted. The energy around him continued to shine, brighter and brighter. Suddenly, a shining glyph appeared under his feet. It was formed of two circles, both shining gold. The outer circle revolved around the inner one, looking like a compass rose with eight spikes symmetrically placed around the ring. The inner ring had a violet outer band full of foreign symbols and characters, with the center of the circle also violet, with a large symbol at the center; two crescent moons, back-to-back, placed withing a large diamond.

Trowan continued his chant.

"Blinding speed, appearing and disappearing violently! Flash Blue!"

The blue skies above the Coliseum blackened with storm clouds, thunder rumbling and lightning flashing violently. People in the stands were visibly afraid at the sudden shift in whether. Riku was paralyzed by the mysticism of the ritual, Hades was watching with great interest, and Hercules, Phil, and the Elrics worried for Riku. But Trowan was not finished yet.

"The heavenly spear that pierces all creation! Lightning Yellow!"

Trowan's booming voice was answered by more thunder and lightning. The crystal shard in his fingers began to pulse and shake, as if the spell was bringing it to life. A mirror-image of the seal Trowan stood upon appeared against the black storm clouds, except this one was fifty-yards wide.

Taking his ground, Riku tried to hide his worries about whatever was coming. _I can feel it... So much __raw power is coming from Trowan and that crystal._ He tightened his grip on Way to the Dawn. _I have no idea what to expect though... This ritual, what's purpose could it have?_

Aura flaring stronger than ever before, Trowan spread his arms out wide, before finally completing his chant.

"Burst! Summoned creature!"

With the shard in the palm of his hand, Trowan forced his hand down towards the ground, stabbing the crystal into his seal, the small gem passing through the earth itself! The glyph suddenly illuminated even more, turning into a pool of bright electric blue energy. The energy rose into the ground, like rain falling in reverse, joining the brewing storm. A final bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, piercing through the symbol etched in the sky!

Emerging from the underside of the symbol, was a man emerged in an aura of shining blue energy. The glyph shattered, and the energy faded away, revealing an elderly, sagely man. He was bald, with a large and immaculate flowing, white beard, pointed ears, dressed in an ornate white and royal blue robe, golden bangles and necklaces, and carrying a large wooden staff mounted with a stone crescent moon.

His fear breaking through him, Riku took a step back, as the sage descended to the earth, floating next to Trowan, who smiled victoriously at his conjuration.

"Sage of thunder, Ramuh!" Trowan added through his grin. He then pointed at Riku, giving an order to the sage – Ramuh. "Ramuh! Judgement Bolt!"

Ramuh waved his staff about, before firing a burst of energy into the blackened sky. The storm stirred itself again, this time actually firing down blue bolts of electricity. At first, they scattered about randomly, frying and destroying any barrel or crate they came across. Then, they became more focused, the bolts crashing down near and around Riku, who did his best to dodge the rays of electricity. But they kept getting closer and closer to him, so close that he could smell ozone all around him. The storm reached its apex, as Riku became trapped. Five bolts of lightning – five extraordinarily fast and large bolts – in the shape of a cross came rushing down.

Riku didn't even know what hit him.

The five bolts rained down on him with such violent speed that he could not react at all. The center bolt it him directly, with the other four pumping the earth full of an electrical shockwave.

"GAAAHHH!"

Focusing on his Dawn energy, Riku created a small bubble around him to negate some of the damage. But it wasn't enough. The five searing spears of Ramuh pierced deep into him, eating away at his clothes, sapping him of his strength, and drawing blood, as crimson began to dribble from his mouth.

When the lightning subsided, Riku swayed weakly, left and right, smoking and bleeding. Way to the Dawn vanished from his grasp, as he slumped over in pain and exhaustion.

Trowan bowed his head, and gave a tilt of his hat, a sign of his respect, to his seemingly vanquished opponent.

"Battle decided."

* * *

Riku thought he had passed out when he was struck by the Judgment Bolt attack. When the electrical bursts subsided, everything slowly vanished from his sight, and the whole world turned to black. But he didn't pass out.

Or maybe he did, and his unconscious mind and been called into his heart.

When consciousness returned to him a few seconds later, he was standing on his platform, staring Dawn in the face. This time though, instead of greeting Riku in her normal manner, the mysterious girl looked at him sternly, arms folded, as she floated before him. With her cute face and outfit, it didn't exactly work, but she got her point across.

"Dawn?" Riku groaned. He may not be in the physical world, but he could still feel the pain from the fight. "What...what's going on? Why am I here?"

"Because I called you here." She explained, her tone matching her body language.

Riku stood up. His head ached from being struck by lightning, but it seemed this 'inner form' didn't feel physical exhaustion. "Wait, you called me here? You have to send me back! We can talk later, but I'm in an important fight right now."

"Oh calm down," Dawn said dismissively. "Haven't you noticed that time move slower in here than in the real world? I've slowed it down even more than usually now."

"You can do that?" Riku asked in wonderment. He was still surprised at what this girl was capable of.

Dawn nodded sharply. "Only once in a while, and only if I'm not doing anything else."

"Okay then..." Riku replied. "So why am I here? And what's so important that you have to slow time even more."

Dawn floated towards Riku. "Why do you think you're here? You're being beaten by that dirty cowboy! You! The Warrior of Dawn! You're being beaten by a guy with two pistols and a sword."

"And a guy who has a bag full of summons..." Riku replied bitterly. He was not in the mood to be grilled by Dawn.

"So? He can summon. He didn't use them until the last minute. If you had just used your head and started the fight with your Dawn powers, you could have avoided that mess completely!" It was strange seeing Dawn so furious. Dawn, who was normally fawning all over Riku. "What is wrong with you!"

Ashamed as he was to admit it, there was something about Dawn that compelled Riku to tell the truth. "I was... holding back." He said through gnashed teeth. "I have no problem with using the Dawn against Heartless or Immortals, but Trowan... he's innocent. He's just a human. He doesn't want to cause harm, he's not evil, he just wants...whatever he wants."

Dawn's normal smile broke through the stoic frown. "And that also bother you, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Riku said quietly. "He has a dream. And I don't have any desire to destroy someone else's dreams." He stroked his hair back a bit, turning away from Dawn. "I mean, when I was younger, all I wanted was to get off the islands, see what was beyond them. I was going to do it, no matter what. Now though... I just want to protect my friends. That's my dream, and I'll be damned if anyone would try to take that away from me."

The expression on Dawn's face softened even more, as she floated to Riku's side, putting an arm over his shoulder. "Riku... I think its great you care so much about the dreams of other people, even if its someone you barely know. But you have to do this. You know you do."

When the white-haired Keyblader didn't reply, Dawn continued. "And you don't know what Trowan's dream is. He may think that Hades is the only way to achieve it, but, you never know, he may have another chance.

"But you have to get back out there and use the Dawn. Or else Hercules will be in grave danger."

Dawn then removed her arm from Riku's shoulder and clasped at his right hand with both of hers. "And remember this Riku," She said, her normal jovial smile, "You'll always have me to draw strength from. I'm always their for my master."

Riku looked up to the sky and the small amount of light trickling down from the black. "Someday, I'll figure out what you are, because its sentences like that that puzzle the hell out of me." Brimming with confidence once again, Riku declared, "But for now, I have a fight to win.

"I'm ready, let's go!"

* * *

The bolts of lightning smashed into Riku, shocking him to his core. They faded away, and Riku fell into unconsciousness, seemingly defeated by Trowan.

The crowd was elated. While they liked Riku as a competitor, the crowd popped for ability and skills, displays of power that they normally could not see. And Trowan had never used Ramuh in a Coliseum battle before.

"I knew it!" Ed shouted. "I knew it! He was hiding something just in case!" Ed was about to leap out of the private box of Phil's and into the ring, but was quickly stopped by Alphonse.

Phil and Herc were both showing concern, for Riku, and for Hercules. "You think you can handle something like that, champ?" Phil asked his protégé

"I don't know..." Herc replied in a dire tone. "Riku seems fairly strong. About as strong as Sora. And if Trowan beat Riku, and Sora defeated me a few times... It seems dicey."

Hades' reaction was diametrically opposite. "AHAHA!" The god hooted, smiling wickedly, flame hair shining in his evil glee. "That's how you do it kid! Right there, perfect! Now do that once or twice to Wonder Jerk tomorrow and we're all set!"

Ramuh's time was running out. The black clouds above began to dissipate quickly, while Ramuh itself was fading away into motes of light. Eventually, Ramuh's entire body faded away into the stream of light, leaving only the original crystal, now lacking some of its original luster. The crystal floated in mid air for a second, before falling into Trowan's hand. He quickly placed it back in his bag.

Trowan felt woozy and shook his head, his stance wavering slightly. Summoning took a lot of energy out of him, and combined with the intense skirmish he had just been apart of and blood loss, he was beginning to feel very faint and weary.

Trowan bowed his head, and gave a tilt of his hat, a sign of his respect, to his seemingly vanquished opponent.

"Battle decided."

"Not yet, it isn't!"

From absolute elation, to dead silence, the crowd's mood shifted on the drop of a dime, as Riku recovered and got back to his feet.

Trowan had heard the voice, but he was in even greater disbelief than the crowd. The cowboy slowly turned around to face his opponent. Riku's clothing was torn in place, he was burned at points, and he was breathing heavily, but he was conscious and he was on his feet, his Keyblade in hand.

"Well I'll be damned..." Ed said quietly, before a smile crept onto his face. "Okay, Riku! Kick his ass! Don't make me regret entering this stupid gauntlet!" The alchemist cheered jubilantly, along with his brother.

Seeing the ex-apprentice of his ally still alive and well after getting blasted by lightning, Hades' mood swung again in its normal radical way. "WHAT!" He screamed, nearly choking on his own breath. He crushed the goblet resting on Panic, before flaring up into red form again. "You!" He pointed at Trowan, not caring if his fighter couldn't here him. "You get it right and kick his ass! Kill him! Slaughter him! Do whatever it takes, just get rid of that white-haired eyesore!" A wave of fire shot out all around Hades, scorching both Pain and Panic. The imps jumped away in fear and pain, but Hades wasn't done, as the berserking villain blasted his minions with more fire.

"I'm impressed, Riku," Trowan conceded with a satisfied grin. "I never imagine I would have to use a summon in this fight, let alone survive its special attack." He then unhooked the bag that contained the Ramuh crystal. "But I'm telling you this now: surrender now or I will unleash the full strength of my heart's desires on you!"

Riku cricked his neck left and right. "Hit me with your best shot." He said with a cocky smirk. "Fire away."

The desperado proxy looked a little shaken. Whether it was Riku's refusal to back down, or his growing exhaustion is unknown. The shaken appearance soon vanished, as Trowan leaped backwards, defiance in his eyes. "Alright, you want another!" Trowan ripped open his brown bag and pulled out another crystal, this one a mixture of bright red and orange.

The circular symbol appeared under his feet once again, and Trowan shone with more energy, this time it was fiery red. He waved the crystal around like a minuscule dagger a few times before beginning the chant.

"Incandescent fury of the king! Cardinal Red!

"The source of bright life and great destruction! Solar Orange!

"The flaming red fang of Hell! Burning Crimson!"

Trowan raised the crystal shard high above him, before slamming it down into the seal again. The seal suddenly grew in size, to around ten-yards, before the seal was covered by a carpet of molten lava and burning rock. Erupting from the pool of lava, was a great gout of flame, followed by a large chunk of molten rock rising up, with Trowan riding atop the rock.

"Burn it all!" Trowan uttered, finishing the ritual. "Summoned creature! Demon of flames, Ifrit!"

Trowan jumped down from the molten rock, which promptly split apart, unleashing the fiery summon. It was a large, humanoid-like beast, standing around twelve-feet tall. It had rust red skin, large hands and feet each with long onyx nails on each finger and toe. The beast's wrists and ankles were clad in manacles, with chains hanging from the manacle; it had a long flowing mane of hair, coloured bright orange and looking like a sea of cinder and flame. Sprouting from the beast's head were two pair of horns, one shorter pair running laterally with its long, snout-like face, and the other were much larger horns, shooting straight backwards and curving slightly towards the end.

The fiery demon roared and snarled, radiating heat, flames flickering around its massive body.

The summoner was breathing in a ragged, shallow manner, taking a knee, as he broke out in a hard sweat. "Damn it... I summoned twice in the same..." Trowan breathed, rather weakly. His vision of Ifrit and Riku starring one another down blurred for a moment, as his head bobbed around in weakness. "Ifrit... deal with him, yourself...quickly!"

The demon roared in response to its master's command, lunging forward with its right arm, sending the chain attached to the manacle at Riku. The Warrior of Dawn jumped backwards, avoiding the chain as it plowed right into the earth. He began to strafe around, as Ifrit withdrew the chain and swung it at Riku. Riku dodged again, but it was too close for comfort this time, as earth was upturned, chunks of stone raining down on Riku.

_Ergh..._ Riku grunted, trying his best to job the chain whips, narrowly avoiding the searing metal from digging into his legs. _This is ridiculous! His reach is too much to handle, I can't get in close enough, or think of a strategy that might work... These summons of his are ridiculous!_ Ifrit unleashed a large fireball from its hand, striking the ground in front of Riku and sending him flying backwards.

_I can't think that way,_ he chided himself mentally, retreating backwards slightly, getting out of Ifrit's ranger. _I have to fight his power with my own. Just because he's not an Immortal, just because he's not evil, doesn't mean I can't give it my all!_

Taking his trademark stance, Riku's golden and black aura flared up. He could feel the strength pulsing deep within him. He had been using the Dawn for sometime, but this time, this moment... it felt different. Black and gold energy pooled under his feet, letting him skate along the Coliseum grounds at high speed.

Ifrit flung his chain at Riku, who easily avoided the whip strike. Now inside Ifrit's arc of attack, Riku spin around and padded backwards, slashing at Ifrit's legs and drawing the ire of the flaming devil. It roared loudly, causing heat and flame to radiate off of it in a massive blast.

Riku slid away from Ifrit, firing the Ray to Dawn beams at Ifrit, the energy rays piercing into the flesh of the summoned beast, like shining gold spears. Charging the demon again, this time head on, Riku wound around the arms of the stunned creature, slicing off the chains of Ifrit, before biting into its stomach with a rising, spinning slash.

Ifrit roared again, its rage burning hotter than the flames that shrouded it. A fireball engulfed its right claw, as it punched at Riku, the burning fist smashing into the ground like a meteor. The earth exploded into waves of rock and flame, but Riku nimbly dodged the debris with his Dawn energy skates. He followed this up with another Ray of Dawn, this one biting into the underside of Ifrit's jaw, and then a jumping slash at the demon's shoulder.

Trowan was watching his summoned get schooled from across the battlefield, standing on one knee. Maintain Ifrit for this long had sapped him of a lot of energy, so much that he couldn't stand on two feet. If he was to win this fight, he needed to win now!

"Ifrit!" The summoner shouted from across the arena. "Finish this! Hellfire attack!"

The beast roared in acknowledgement of its master's command. The flame aura around the creature picked up some more, as it unleashed a wave of fire along the ground, driving Riku back for a moment. The horned demon the reached into the earth, pulling out a large chunk of rock, before jumping high into the air.

Taking aim at the position of its assailant, Ifrit lobbed the rock into the air, before punching it, causing it to split into hundreds of shards, ready to rain down on Riku. It finished the attack by breathing a stream of fire, engulfing the aerial avalanche, turning each stone into a miniature meteor. The plume of flame and its meteoric payload descended upon the young Keyblade Master, ready to absolutely incinerate him.

_Stand your ground, Riku._ The teen told himself, he had to tell himself that, there was no way he could outrun the inferno. He held Way to the Dawn out in front of him, brimming with even more Dawn energy. _I have people to protect. So, sorry Trowan... but my dream is more important than yours._

"Sun Shield of Faith!"

A modified version of the Sun Shield, this one a half bubble of solid gold energy covering Riku's front, appeared. The flames washed over it, the burning rock particles bounced off of it. The shield did waver, let alone crack, as the attack came at Riku with all its might.

But it did not harm him, and soon faded away.

Ifrit crashed into the earth, now as exhausted as it's master. Riku saw his chance at victory. Stabbing Way to the Dawn into his barrier, the Keyblade absorbed the Dawn energy, which soon wrapped around the curved blade of Riku's weapon, bathing it in a shining gold aura!

"This is it!" Riku called out, charging Ifrit one last time, empowered Keyblade at his side. "You're time is up!

"NIGHT-PIERCING SWORD!"

Riku jumped into the air, seizing the charged Way to the Dawn with both hands and unleashing a wide slash at Ifrit. The super-charged saber bit deep into Ifrit, slashing open the flesh of the demon, and unleashing a torrent of blood and smoke. Riku followed it up with more and more slashes, slicing at the fiery beast's shoulders, arms, face, before finishing it off by severing a horn and plunging the legendary weapon into Ifrit's chest.

The flaming devil let out a cry of pain as Riku withdrew his weapon, more blood and smoke pouring from its wounds. The great beast fell on its back, its flames dying out, and all the colouration fading away, leaving Ifrit the colour of a burnt out campfire. Like Ramuh, Ifrit burst into a stream of light, leaving only the now lusterless crystal that originally summoned it.

Riku smiled and chuckled at what he had accomplished. "So, Trowan? You wanna summon another one of those beasts, or should we go back to one-on-one combat?" When there was no answer, Riku turned around. "Trowan?"

To Riku's great surprise, the desperado summoner had passed out, face down on the arena floor, his hat dislodged from his head.

Riku ran up to meet his downed opponent, turning the unconscious gunslinger over onto his back. He was surprised in two ways. Pleasantly surprised to find that Trowan was still conscious, just out of energy. But he was shocked to find that Trowan's hat was more than decoration, it was hiding something from the world.

Jutting from the center of Trowan's forehead, was a short...protuberance of some sort. It was odd. Around the length of a thumb, it was a reddish-brown colour and ended in a jagged, uneven surface, as if it had been broken off.

Trowan blinked his eyes. The world was spinning around him. Two summons and two final strikes in the span of a few minutes. It was too much for him to handle. Even in his dazed, weakened state though, he could feel it. Or rather, the lack of it.

Suddenly, Trowan sat straight up, almost jabbing Riku with protuberance. The gunslinging summoner began to paw around his head, realizing that he lost his cowboy hat, and that his secret was exposed!

"No...no, no..." Trowan began to mumble in a deranged manner, still trying to feel out his cowboy hat, deluding himself into thinking it was still atop his head. "No...no, this can't be... I..."

"Trowan," Riku said, grasping his shoulders and getting in his face. "Trowan! Get a hold of yourself!"

The desperado didn't listen and continued to babble incoherently. "Fight...I can still fight!" He reached at Riku, trying to snatch his collar or neck. "Have to win... win and... see home..." The remainder of Trowan's strength left him, as his arms went limp, and his whole head sagged forward, a downcast look on his face.

Riku put a hand on the shoulder of the mysterious gunslinger, but that's all he could do to console him. There was a puff of smoke, a whiff of brimstone in the air, and a large shadow drew itself over the two combatants.

Hades had decided to join the fight personally.

"You little brats!" Hades snarled viciously. His entire body blazed up, turning red, as he launched two fireballs at the downed fighters. The explosion threw them backwards, their bodies tumbling across the shattered tiles.

In an instance, the capacity crowd broke out into a mad panic, fleeing the building as the competition boiled down to a legitimate fight. In the same instance, Phil, Ed, Al, and Hercules all exited their box to join the action themselves.

"Hades..." Trowan croaked. His hand was extended, fingers clawing at the arena floor, trying to bring himself to his feet. "What are you doing...?" His employer gave no answer. "I can still fight...can still win!"

Hades scoffed loudly at the remark. "Yeah right. Kid, word of advice, don't try to pull bull crap over an expert bull crapper!"

Still struggling to even bring himself onto his elbows, Trowan still eyed Hades with an intense glare. "I... Give me another chance! I can still fight... I have to fight!" The cowboy warrior wiped away some of the sweat on his forehead, grazing the odd protuberance. "You promised... you would lead me home... back to the Summoner's..."

The god chuckled evilly, wagging his finger in a taunting, patronizing manner. "Yeah, but I would have promised you _anything_ to get you to work for me." Riku had managed to get up to his feet, but he was caught up in another blazing stream shot by Hades. "And here's another piece of free advice for ya... Never trust a promise, made by a villain!"

From the look on Trowan's face, it seemed like his entire world had just crumbled away. He blinked in disbelief once or twice, the exhaustion on his face washing away with the realization of the shocking truth.

"You...you lied?" Hades looked nonplussed at the question, while Trowan's disbelief deepened. "No...that can't be. You're lying now..."

"Hey, I'm not one to crap on a guy playing a bit," Hades chattered away in his normal manner. He gazed out at the assembled warriors standing behind Trowan. At the behest of Riku, Herc and Phil had left to facilitate the safe exit of the spectators. "But you really oughta nix this 'denial patient' bit. I'm not lying. I sense the entire universe, and there is not a single Summoner like you left. And I'm a god, kid! A god! If I can't sense 'em, then they don't exist! You're the last of your kind kid. And nothing is gonna change that!"

"Would someone explain this to me?" Ed asked, itching for a chance to battle. The only reason they hadn't struck yet was because the weakened Trowan might get caught up in the crossfire.

"I don't have all the information," Riku explained. "But I think Trowan's deal with Hades was that Hades would send Trowan back to his home, his family. But, as ol' flame-head here just admitted, it was nothing but a rouse."

"You mean this creep was manipulating Trowan's hopes and dreams just to get what he wanted?" Ed asked again.

"Yep." Riku said.

A scowl crossed Ed's face. "Bastard!" Fullmetal Fury sprung to life in Ed's hand. "Let's take this creep down!"

"Easy Ed," Riku cautioned. "This guys may be a total creep, but he's still a god, we have to take this fight seriously."

"How many times to I have to say this?" Ed yelled, already charging in. "I don't believe in Gods!"

Flames burst to life around Hades. "Well you should half-pint!" He pressed his palms into the ground, unleashing a wave of burning fire that spread outward. Ed, Al, and Riku all jumped backwards to avoid getting burned, only to see that Hades had warped right behind them.

Unfortunately, Trowan didn't have the energy to leap away like the other three. He rolled out of the smoking, burning radius Hades' flames left. His left arm was burned, and his clothing was even more trashed than before. But that was the least of his worries. His body burned in pain, but he was seething with burning red anger. All of this hellish hatred was directed at Hades.

He was watching the object of his anger due battle with the alchemist brothers and the white-haired Keyblader. Both Way to the Dawn and Fullmetal Fury harmlessly bounced off the burning red skin of Hades, Al and Ed's transmutations crumbled upon contact, and the Dawn powers only succeeded in knocking Hades backwards. For the time being, at least until Hercules returned, the trio were in a tight spot.

Reaching under his waist with his good arm, Trowan once again withdrew his pouch full of crystals. Each individual crystal held the soul of a unique Eidolon – what he and his tribe called summons – and, when combined with his power, they could bring the summon into this realm of existence. With the bag in hand, he grew very hesitant, he had never tried three summons in a single day, it could kill him. But if he did nothing, there was a chance the others may not survive long enough for Hercules to return.

_What I want may not exist anymore..._ Trowan lamented, searching for a specific crystal. _But they still have a mission, they still have dreams. I won't let those dreams die either._ He found the shard, this one was snow white, with spidery lines of icy blue running through it.

"Hades!" Trowan hollered, drawing the attention of the god. With great effort, Trowan propped himself up to his knees. The summoning circle appeared under him. "I don't care what a crook and sneak like you says! I believe that the Summoners are still out there. And I will never give up hope! There's always a chance! Always!" The passioned speech of the Summoner was magnified by a shining blue and white aura that appeared over him. "And as long as my dream lives on, I will never, ever be denied! I won't be defeated! NEVER!"

For the first time since the group had split up (for this party anyways), a golden light flash from one of Riku's pockets, as a Blank Medallion rose into the air. Time began to move in a standstill for everyone except Riku and Edward. The Medallion appeared before Ed, hanging in the air, and was aimed directly at Trowan. Without a second thought, Edward fired a ray of golden light from Fullmetal Fury, which traveled through the air, piercing the Medallion. The trinket turned into an orb of light and flew into Trowan, vanishing with a corona of light.

Then, as soon as it happened, time returned to normal, with Trowan unknowing of what he received.

_So he was the candidate..._ Riku thought, Edward giving him a knowing grin.

"Well tough guy," Hades smirked to Trowan, chuckling darkly as he did. "Why don't you try and defeat me, if you're so unbeatable!"

"Gladly!" Trowan spat, the white and blue aura still shining around him like a halo. Spinning the shard in his fingers, he started to chant for a third time.

"The peace in the sky before the coming storm! Serene Azure!

"Chaste soil that rejects the birth of life! Virgin White!

"The cry that freezes everything in its way! Icy blue!"

This time, instead of stabbing the crystal into the circle, Trowan threw the shard forward, a second seal spreading out from where it landed.

"Shine! Summoned creature!"

From the crystal and the second seal came a series of ice crystals, driving through the earth like crystalline spears, shining beautifully in the afternoon sun. Descending from the sky, came an ethereal spirit, human in shape, which soon found residence in the icy flower Trowan created. Inside, the spirit began to take the summon's form.

"Goddess of ice! Shiva!"

The crystals exploded, revealing their occupant. A beautiful, willowy woman, with blue skin, wearing a white bikini top and a loose silk skirt. Her hair was a series of thick braids, decorated with golden bangles. The icy Shiva struck a graceful pose, before giving Hades a stern look.

"Talk about an ice queen..." Hades quipped, starring down the frozen beauty.

Trowan felt something warm enter his mouth, a coppery taste. Blood. This was putting too much strain on him.

"Hurry! Shiva!" He ordered his summon. "Finish him off. Diamond Dust!"

Shiva nodded at her master's command, before striking another graceful pose. She breathed a stream of icy mist at Hades. The gust of frozen particles latched onto their target, slowly expanding across the panicking god. His flames were extinguished, his skin turned back to the blue colour, and the ice continued to encroach all over his body. Eventually, a freezing aura radiated around his body, and the villainous deity became encased in a solid chunk of ice!

Shiva finished the strike off with a simple snap. Even more ice exploded off of the frozen tomb which trapped Hades. Sharp spires of ice rose from the ground, impaling the central block and its contents, and the entire structure burst into a structure similar to the one Shiva appeared in. The entire structure soon erupted, fell apart in a sharp, violent cacophony of sound and an avalanche of broken ice! Her job finished, Shiva bowed and let her body vanished into a stream of light.

_Alright... _Trowan thought wearily. The sight of a weakened, extinguished, bald Hades brought joy to his soul. _Even if I die... Even if this is it... I can go on knowing I did some good._

The last of his strength gone, Trowan fell into unconsciousness.

Alphonse saw this, and the state of Hades, and formulated a quick plan to get rid of him. "Riku, get Trowan out of here. Brother and I can deal with him" Without a word of argument, Riku did as he was told, lifting the bloody, KO'd cowboy up and away from the warzone.

"Okay, Al, let's put this wannabe deity in his place!" Ed said with enthusiasm. Al nodded in agreement, the Elrics taking their places before Hades.

After being frozen alive, after having his flames snuffed out, Hades was in terrible shape, sapped of all his might, and knocked for a loop. If had the wherewithal, he would have been embarrassed to be bald, but he was too dazed to give someone the time of day.

With no remorse for their loopy opponent, Ed scratched Al a transmutation circle in the stone floor. Alphonse pressed his armoured hands down on the circle, and Ed stabbed Fullmetal Fury down onto the ground. A bright blue light shot out around them, as several pillars shot forward, smashing into Hades with such violent force that it not only lifted the villain off the ground, but launched him sky high, up and over the stands, depositing him somewhere outside the stadium.

Sometime later...

After finding a healer for Trowan and Riku, and then getting some food for the drained Trowan, the four young warriors decided to talk, to share their own tragic pasts. Riku and Ed gave Trowan the cliff notes version of their back story, more interested in Trowan's tale. Which, to be honest, is quite expected, considering that Trowan had a horn jutting from his and could summon an unknown amount of powerful beings.

By the desperado's own admission, he had been suffering from amnesia for several years, and could not remember too many details of his earlier life, but he did the best he could.

Trowan came from a tribe known simply as the Summoners, all of whom looked like normal humans, but with horns coming out of their heads. The horns were the source of their power, and the longer and bigger the horn, the more summoning strength a Summoner had. The reason why Trowan's horn, he explained, was broken, was because of a schoolyard fight involving bullies. An errant blow caused his horn to shatter, which limited his summoning abilities by a tremendous amount, to the point where two summons were pushing it.

He continued to live life, despite being a "Shatterhorn", until around eight or nine years ago.

The Heartless came, attacking his tribe. Some sort of catastrophe happened, most likely his world being destroyed, and Trowan blacked out.

When he came to, he awoke in a town on a foreign world. The inhabitants referred to the land as the "wild west". At first, Trowan was persecuted because of his horn fragment, but he soon got out of dodge, headed several towns over, and stole his (now) trademark cowboy hat. This also explained where he got his pistols

And for the past several years, Trowan had been world-hopping, using a summon of his to open portals between worlds, in the vain hope that he would find the Summoner Tribe, or at least somebody who had heard about them.

Eight years of searching, and five different worlds, and he had no results so far.

"And...that's about all there is." Trowan finished. He was bandaged up at the cheek, right wrist, and left arm. The latter appendage was cradled against his chest. "I came to this world about two months ago, and I guess I was so dejected that nobody knew about the Summoners again... I made a deal with the devil."

"What are you going to do now?" Riku asked. He wasn't in too great shape either. By now, he had his mind set on learning the Cure spell when all of this ended. "Go to another world, or...?"

"No, not yet." Trowan replied with a soft smile. "I probably should, but I'm going to see if I can get an audience with the other Gods. I mean, somebody has to be able to help me, right?"

"I hate to sound like a pessimist," Ed broke in, "But maybe the other Summoners are gone."

"Brother..." Al chided softly.

"Hey, hey, Al, easy there. I'm sorry to say it too, but he's looked all over, has not heard anything about any other Summoners..." Ed scratched his jaw and shook his head mournfully. "And the odds...let's just say they're not with you."

Riku grimaced at the comments. "You know Ed, that mouth of yours is going to get you in big trouble one day."

Trowan shook his head. "It's alright." He commented. "I know its stupid to keep working at this, its like trying to plow a field with a spoon. But...until I can see with my own eyes, if I am the last Summoner or not, then I will keep searching, even if it takes my entire life."

Riku smiled at the determination from the young man. "That's the spirit." He told the older fighter. "You've know what I've done, and some people would say that doing that would be impossible.

"No matter what, no matter the dream, there's always a chance."

As Riku uttered those words, Trowan did not know how true they were. That his 'chance' was within reach. He was a Keyblader now, and as many people can vouch for, the Keyblade could open the door to infinite possibilities. Now, his dream may seem far away, but, with this hidden gift, it might just be within his reach.

**To Be Continued**

_Whew! That's a lot of Final Fantasy references in that chapter. Can you find them all?_

Journal Set #12

Trowan Enkian

Originally born into the Tribe of Summoners, Trowan was separated from them years ago when the Heartless attacked. Like all members of his race, he has a horn extending from his head, though his is broken. Trowan has the ability to summon a numerous amount of creatures. On the Coliseum, Trowan was selected to be Hades' proxy in the Gauntlet, under the guise that Hades would send him home, though he was eventually betrayed. Trowan is a dormant Keyblade Master.

**Chapter Preview**

_Sora: I've waited for this day my entire life! I get to go on a date with Kairi!_

_Riku: I'm happy for you Sora, but I have a mystery to solve. A mystery about a girl named Dawn..._

_Dawn: You think you can just barge in, all lathered up, and expect me to spill my guts?_

_Kairi: I can't believe we finally get to do this. I'm glad we got this last chance of relaxation, before we have to return to out duties..._

_Next Chapter: Mysteries and relaxation. **Genesis of Destiny 32: One Fine Day.**_

_Riku: It's been on my mind since Neverland. And if I can figure you out, I may have just seized our key to victory!_

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_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	32. One Fine Day

_Angelo (pacing): Only three more months until BBS... Only three more months until BBS_

_Kairi: Um...Angelo?_

_Angelo: Oh, Kairi? Hello, what are you doing here?_

_Kairi: I have a question._

_Angelo: Shoot._

_Kairi: Well, with Shire's recent debating about whether he's going to kill me or not, I have to ask, are you going to kill me in GOD or its sequels?_

_Angelo: Kairi, Kairi, Kairi my dear, I never plan to kill of any of my characters._

_Kairi: You killed off Rain three chapters ago..._

_Angelo: Let me finish! I never plan to kill off any of my characters after Rain._

_Angela (appearing out of nowhere): That's bull! I know for a fact you plan to kill of Sora's-_

_Angelo: WHOA! Spoiler no spoiling! Spoiler no spoiling!_

_Angela: And he's going to kill-_

_Angelo (wielding the X-Blade from Birth By Sleep): Die female me! (Swings the X-Blade, causing Angela to vanish) Kairi! Listen to me, I am not going to kill you off! For the love of pete, I'm putting you on a date this chapter!_

_Kairi (rolls eyes): Yeah, some date..._

_Angelo: Oh now you're going to complain?_

_Kairi: No, I'm going to accuse you of never being on a date before._

_Angelo: ..._

_Kairi: What? Can't defend yourself?_

_Angelo: These author's notes have gone on way too long. On to the chapter!_

_Kairi: Don't avoid the question!_

_Angelo: Chapter! Now!_

_On a serious note, I have made some minor changes to Terra, specifically his "Keyblade Title" and the name of his Keyblade. I would also like to thank my best friend Shay for giving me the idea of Sora and Kairi's date. Thank you very much Shay!  
_

Chapter 32: One Fine Day

One day had past since Riku and the Elrics left Olympus Coliseum, and normally the trio would use this time to relax, or train, or patch up wounds from the previous world. Despite being a total junker, and the recent lull in power and speed between Neverland and the Coliseum, their Gummi Ship tended to take a day to travel in between worlds. But today was a break from the normal routine.

So while Alphonse and Edward were relaxing, thankful that they had avoided major injury, Riku went to his room with a mission.

Dawn's presence in his heart had always an issue with him for the past five days. Whenever he had a moment to think, it was normally spent trying to discern just what exactly the mysterious girl was, what she was meant to do, or why she was there. But he could not come up with anything! It was a near impossible problem to solve. There was not a hint as to what she was; nothing that she did or said had really stuck out to him.

But since yesterday, something else in the back of his mind had been nagging him, in addition to his normal frustrations over Dawn.

With all of these problems biting at him, Riku snuck off to his room, and performed the dive.

It was still on odd experience to willingly enter his heart. It only took a slight amount of concentration, but the sensation was just... bizarre. While he felt his physically body still there, he could also feel a less tangible part of him separate from his body, and sink through the bed and floor. He then hit his heart, which felt like diving into a snowbank, all cold and wet, before it broke apart and he slowly descended down onto the stain-glassed platform.

And of course, Dawn was right there. Oddly, she was lying on her side, with a pile of books and magazines surrounding her (where had she gotten those?), and was currently reading one.

As soon as the Keyblader's feet touched the platform, Dawn glanced up from her book, a curious look on her face. "Oh? Riku?" She queried. Shutting the book in her hand, all the other reading materials vanished instantly. "What are you doing here?" She asked, standing (or, floating) upright. "Ready for another training session?"

"No." Riku stated bluntly. "I came her to get some answers."

Wide-eyed and curious as a cat, Dawn replied. "Get answers? Sorry cutie, you know the deal we have. You have to figure them out on your own."

"Yeah, well, about that," Riku started, rolling his eyes at the quick denial. "Trying to figure out what your are is like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle when you have no pieces." He was being left in the dark and Riku hated being left in the dark. Sure, Sora had been able to get through his adventures with a bare minimum amount of knowledge until the very end, but that wasn't Riku's style. He hated it when Maleficent concealed her plans and goals from him. DiZ had been kind enough to let Riku in on the plan. What he needed to do, when he needed to do it, why he needed to do it, and the consequences of doing it. Not only did it show that DiZ trusted him, but it gave him an idea of what was happening and what needed to be done.

Searching aimlessly in the dark was not a very pleasurable option to him, not again...

"And that's what I don't get about you." Riku commented at the enigma. "You want me to figure out who or what you are, but you give me nothing to work with. Its as if you're trying to sabotage whatever it is I'm suppose to do." Dawn just continued to give a naïve, curious grin. "So, you're either going to tell me what I want to know, or at least giving me something to work with." He threatened sternly.

"And if I don't...?" Dawn questioned in the most diametrically opposite way possible, very cutely and innocently.

Riku took his stance, summoning Way to the Dawn. "Then I'll just have to fight you and force the answers to come."

Dawn's eyebrows raised in surprise at this revelation. The curious and cute image melted away, the girl shaking her head disappointedly. "You don't want to do that, Riku."

"I don't?" Riku replied with a sarcastic edge. "And why should I not do this?"

"Trust me," Dawn shot back, her tone much harder than usual. "You just don't."

Riku remained adamant, and instantly started the battle, jumping at Dawn with a big slash. The girl quickly darted backwards and faraway from the impact of the Keyblade. When Riku looked up at her new location, she was holding her replica Way to the Dawn, hovering in battle stance.

"Alright." She conceded finally, another grin on her face. This one sardonic and elated with humour. "Alright, if you really want to fight, then let's do it. I never could say no to a pretty face, after all."

* * *

Dayne had found his way to the library easy enough, even after a decade of departure, he still knew the layout of the castle like the back of his own hand. Fortunately, the library happened to be one of the few rooms free of workmen or inspectors. According to Allister, everyone was shocked when they found the library in such a sublime condition (compared to the rest of the castle). The castle was still a few months away from completion, and the Restoration Committee and Senators had been working nonstop on repairing and hallowing the castle for seven months, but the library only took around a week or repairs, and a month of re-sorting its contents.

And there was good reasons as to why the library was in a much better state than the rest of the castle. The Heartless had no need for books, no desire to do anything to them, and say what you will about Maleficent, the witch did have a healthy respect for the written word.

But why was Dayne currently in the library, by himself, with a large footlocker he retrieved from his room aboard the Gummi Ship, that was slowly filling up with books? After being brow beaten into staying with the group yesterday, and after realizing what an idiot he was being, he realized that it was July. Being the loyal bodyguard he was, he also remembered that Kairi's birthday was at the end of August (of course, he had no clue whether or not Kairi had the same birth date according to the Islands as she did on the Garden, but he really didn't care about that).

Another realization came to him early in the morning too. Kairi clearly had a desire to learn about her past and heritage, and with the group currently being parked on the Garden, Dayne saw it as a perfect opportunity to not only get Kairi a birthday present, but to also give the girl an introduction to her family and the life she could not remember.

For the past two hours, Dayne had been searching and perusing around the bookshelves, cabinets, and archives for anything he deemed an important thing for Kairi to know (and that he could manage to fit into his footlocker). So far, he had found several texts regarding the history and mythology of the Radiant Garden, as well as several books outlining the history and genealogy of the Ralleone family. In the newspaper and periodical archives, he found four newspapers – the Sun, the Royal Herald, the Radiant Gazette, and the World and Mail – from the day she was born, all of which had a headline announcing her birth, accompanied by a picture of the sleeping baby Kairi in the arms of her proud father and mother.

Currently, he found himself looking for any odds and ends to fill his footlocker. This led him to enter King Agrias' private study, which adjoined to the far end of the library. To the unknowing eye, one would have thought somebody had been riffling through the King's private study during the ten years it had not been in use. While the bookshelf was (considerably) well organized, there were loose papers, books, albums, and files strewn across the desk and floor in a chaotic fashion. A large stack of manila folders and binders covered the only chair in the room. But Dayne knew better than to suspect a person snooping around the study.

As intelligent, sophisticated, respected, and well-liked as King Agrias was, he was never one for orderliness. He had once told Dayne he referred to his own problem with clutter as "chaotic organization". At a glance, it looked like a mess, but Agrias always knew where everything was in the mess.

Dayne spent a few minutes clearing away some of the clutter, making his way to the bookshelf, grabbing a few of the folders as he did. The universe always seemed to be pairing cameras with the deceased King, as one could attest from all the photos in the office. There were many photos of Agrias, from when he was a young child, to his years as a teenager and a young adult, right up until a few days before he mysteriously passed away.

As luck would have it, the first book that Dayne pulled off the shelf was one he had been looking for. The royal wedding album. It certainly was surreal to see Agrias and Beatrix in the photos. Both were in their early-twenties, radiant, handsome, strong, bright-eyed, full of life, and as happy as a human could be. Each were also as dressed as well as a human could, with Agrias in a simple, elegant, prerequisite black tuxedo, and Beatrix a vision in white with lilies and roses woven into her hair.

Dayne closed the album and tucked it away into the locker, searching around again. He found several photos of Agrias and Beatrix when they were close to Sora and Kairi's age, still teenagers, still in the process of courtship and dating. He tucked them into a folder and placed it atop the wedding album.

After several more minutes of rearranging piles, sifting through loose photos, flipping through binders and albums, Dayne found something very surprising amongst the personal belongings on the late King. It was another loose photo, but unlike the others, this one was did not feature Agrias or Beatrix. It was a photo of Dayne and Rain, taken several years ago, with both ex-Immortals wearing the grey uniform of the old Radiant Guardians – a double buttoned coat with a red heart below the collar and slacks. Rain stood the side of her husband, a worried look on her face as she stared at the taller man, while Dayne himself (back then still known as Claudio) had his mouth open agape in a awkward half-smile that showed he was as worried as his wife. Cradled in Dayne's arms was a small girl, with short red hair, wearing a white dress. She looked curiously at the strange man holding her high up.

He remembered this day. It was the day he and Rain were named as the personal bodyguards to Princess Kairi. She was only two or three, and when the King formally introduced the two Guardians, she had hidden behind her father's leg at the sight of the strangers, particularly the towering figure of Dayne/Claudio. When Agrias made the announcement, the two ex-Immortals were shocked, explaining the worried and awkward looks they had in the photo. They had no idea how to take care of a child, let alone a young Princess like Kairi. There was trepidation on both sides, as Kairi was at that age where she had a fear of strangers. But, that fear soon subsided, as the girl soon looked at Rain and Dayne with a shining, childlike fascination and then treated them like they were her second parents.

The old warrior teared up at the photo. It was not only due to reminiscing about his time serving the young girl who he now fought alongside. But, it was because he was seeing Rain again. It sounded strange, she had only past away less than twenty-four hours ago, so already crying at just a picture of her seemed overly sentimental. Maybe it was, but... when Dayne woke up today, when he turned over and didn't see the sleeping form of Rain, and then knowing she wouldn't be in the next room when he got up... it was hard. A staple of his life was gone completely and forever, and he had to adjust to it.

With a sigh, he wiped away his tears, and place the photo of Rain, Kairi, and himself, as well as a few other loose photos into the footlocker. He closed the container, and took it outside the office, before doing his best to rearrange to office back into its state of chaotic orderliness. Hoisting his locker once more, Dayne exited the library and hurried his way through the castle.

When he made his way out of the castle and to the entrance plaza, he placed the container full of books and photos and withdrew a small orange device that looked like a cell phone. This was the Gummi D.L.O. (Direct Link Operator), a special piece of equipment that was fit in on nearly all Gummi Ships. It allowed the crew to either operate the ship remotely, usually limited to causing the ship to travel to their location, or operate the teleporter from a distance, allowing anything or anyone to board the space-fairing vessels. After pressing a few keys on the device, Dayne stepped away from his cargo, as a ray of light shot down from the sky, engulfing the footlocker, before vanishing, taking the locker with it.

"So, you're all finished, eh?" Dayne looked up to see Allister jogging lightly to his location. Dayne pocketed his D.L.O. and smiled slightly.

"Yeah." He answered as the Al Bhed Guardian came to his position. "I have to thank you very much for this."

Allister shook his head and gave a dismissive wave with his hand. "No you don't. This is a favour amongst Guardians. No thanks required." Dayne looked down and stroke his chin.

"No, you see..." Dayne coughed in his hand, before looking back at the spiral-irised man. "I'm sorry for what I said yesterday." He stuttered again, before adding quickly, once more, "I'm sorry."

"Don't sweat it Dayne." Allister replied in his Al Bhed accented drawl. "I know the path Clyde and I walked is... controversial. I meant nothing by what you said." He then pointed at the elder Guardian. "And don't let what I say bring you down either. Who's to say what human really is? In my mind, you're as human as the kids."

By 'the kids', Dayne imagined Al meant Sora and Kairi. The blue-haired warrior smiled slightly again, and silently thanked him for the uplifting words. Allister decided to break the silence.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

Dayne paused and thought for a second before saying, "I guess I'll check in on Sora and the Princess."

Allister lit up at the thought. "Well, if that's the case," he advised, "I stopped back at the apartment not too long ago, and Clyde said those two returned briefly, saying they were going to the beach. So you should probably look around Lake Lindblum or the Sea of Pluto." Dayne nodded and Al added quickly, "It is a long walk though."

"I don't mind." Dayne admitted. He could use a nice long walk through the forests down to the water. "Are you up for the walk?"

Allister gave another dismissive gesture. "Sorry, but I didn't come up to the castle just to speak with you. I have business here that I need to attend to."

"Then I guess this is were we depart." Allister extended his hand, but Dayne replied by saluting the young swordsman.

"Guardian Cdyn," Dayne started, "I leave the Garden in your hands. Keep safe until the Princess returns."

Allister instantly snapped to attention, returning the salute, before returning with "Sir, yes sir!"

With a sharp nod, the two set off on their ways, Dayne heading to the water, while Allister entered the castle before him. As Dayne walked away, he did realize that Allister's return was more than a simple formality. He suppose he really did outrank the man. Not that that mattered right now. He had a more important mission ahead of him. The Garden could wait, if it ever came into his life again.

* * *

Riku was sweating hard and breathing heavily. His exhaustion was apparent. Dawn, on the other hand, looked like not a hair on her head was out of place.

"Come on!" Riku yelled. "Get over here and fight me! Fight me for real!"

"And why would I do that?" Dawn returned. Unlike Riku, who was still in a fighting stance, Dawn held her weapon lazily at her side. "I have no reason to fight you. I don't even want to fight you. There's no point to all of this."

For the past ten minutes, this duel Riku had initiated was nothing more than a game of tag. A game Riku was loosing. Dawn had remained floating the whole time, moving at a much faster speed than Riku could run. Riku never got closer than ten-feet, as Dawn would just hover away with ease. Plus, adding insult to injury, Dawn did not tire by floating, while Riku could only go full bore for a little while before hitting the wall.

"Stop running and fight me!" Riku ordered. With a charge and a leap, Riku tried to close the gap with a downward slash. When he landed, he saw that the golden-haired girl had simply moved away like she always did. She was actually widening the gap every time he tried to close the distance!

"Alright then," Riku intoned, still breathing hard. "It's time for Plan B!" He focused in on his Dawn energies, directing the power towards his feet to form the Dawn Skates. Pools or black and gold energy appeared under his feet. "Try outrunning me now!"

He lunged forward, sliding on the energy skates, easily getting close to Dawn with the single push. The girl looked shock as to how fast Riku was moving. She managed to spin and float away to the left, before Riku could get a hit on her. Now Dawn was moving faster too, traveling to the far end of the pedestal in a second.

Not to be deterred, Riku leaned in for a sharp turn, planning on bull rushing her again. He went for another lunge, but instead of feeling his whole being glide forward with ease, he just felt his right sneaker scuff against the stain-glassed mural and get thrown up into the air. With all of his momentum gathered on only his left leg, Riku lost his balance and crashed to the floor, hard.

Propping himself up on his hands, Riku blinked in disbelief. He looked down at his feet to see that the pools of Dawn energy had vanished! _What the hell..._ He thought, panicked. _Why did they just vanish?_ He looked up to see Dawn chuckling at his position.

"Oh wow..." She chortled softly and effeminately. "I've heard of guys tripping over there own feet to get at a girl, but to actually see it!" She laughed again.

Riku instantly popped back to his feet, and focused again, trying to get the Dawn power to form the Dawn Skates again. But it just didn't happen! Bolts of gold and black fizzled at his soles, but nothing came of it.

Riku grunted in frustration. "What's going on...?" He could still feel the power of the Dawn deep within him, he could still channel it into different parts of his body, but... that's it. The energy reached the end of the channel and nothing came of it. "Why did it fail me? Why won't this work!" He tried again, forcing as much Dawn energy through his body as he could, focusing it all on his feet, but once again, nothing came of it. Just nothing.

"What's the matter, Riku-kun?" Dawn asked, tilting on her side, legs in the air, as if she was a resting on a bed. "Can't get it...up?" She stopped. "Oh wait, that doesn't work really work..." She then sat midair, Indian style, and began to think. "Good sex pun...good sex pun..."

"That's enough!" Riku roared, pointing Way to the Dawn at the girl. "Ray of Dawn!" The gold and black energy shot out of the tip of the weapon, streaking towards its target (who was still thinking of a good enough pun). The ray made impact, but it did nothing! The energy just splayed around Dawn, effecting her as much as a light breeze.

Either Dawn was playing up her bit, or she really felt nothing, as she gave no reaction whatsoever. Riku stood in further disbelief. First his Dawn Skates and now his primary attack? What was happening?

Gritting his teeth, and concentrating even more than before, Riku pressed on.

"Ray of Dawn! Ray of Dawn! Ray of Dawn!"

The first two blasts of Dawn energy did the same thing as the first, ineffectually bouncing off of Dawn. The third though, followed the suite of his last Dawn Skate attempt. Dawn energy fizzled from the winged tip of Way to the Dawn, but all it did was fizzle, like a lighter with worn out flint. He stared at his Keyblade with shock and anger.

"Are you quite finished?"

He looked back to see Dawn was finally floating in her stance again. "Would you like me to show you how to really do it?" The girl offered. Before he could respond, Dawn aimed her not-Keyblade at Riku.

"Ray of Dawn!"

An exact duplicate of the attack Riku tried a moment ago shot from Dawn's facsimile weapon. The gold and black energy ray zipped through the air with alarming speed, crashing into Riku's gut! It didn't pierce him, like his Ray would do to a Heartless, but it felt like Wakka had just launched a blitzball at him with all his might.

All the air rushed from his chest, as Riku collapsed in a heap, his Keyblade falling from his grasp.

"Give up yet?" Dawn asked, bending over so that she was at Riku's level, even from the distance she was.

Riku's answer was gathering more Dawn energy into his hand, and then throwing the small orb at the girl.

"Antioch Grenade!"

The sphere arced through the air, and came sailing down onto Dawn's area. The golden-haired enigma just yawned, and lazily kicked the falling grenade back into the sky. It promptly exploded, though that might be too strong a word, as it simply made a small 'boom' and followed by a burst of light.

"I expected better from you." Dawn said, expressing her disappointment. "First you start a fight with me for no reason, and now you can't even muster a halfway decent attack... I'm beginning to have doubts on this partnership."

Riku slowly got back to his feet once more, heaving from Dawn's brutal strike. "I'm not going to lose..." He stressed. Losing wasn't an option. He could feel it. If he found out the secrets this odd woman was hiding, he could find what his side needed to win. It was just a strange feeling he felt in his gut. "If I have to throw everything away, to save everyone else, then gladly!" The energy began to build, a fierce aura of gold and black, his darkness and his soul!

Several small orbs of golden light began to gather around his body.

"Try this, Dawn! Refracting Rays!"

Each orb fired a stream of Dawn energy, which arced, bent, and angled there way through the air towards their target. All of the crooked beams cleared the distance and hit their target. The force of the blast was actually enough to force the floating girl backwards, giving Riku hope that he finally accomplished something. All that hope was dashed though, when the golden energy subsided, leaving Dawn unharmed once again, and with a look of quiet disappointment.

_No..._ Riku lost it. He let his Keyblade vanish, as he fell to his knees in defeat, looking at his hands, like he could see his own power escaping from his being. He exhaled and inhaled violently, literally shaking at his failure, his weakness.

"God damn it!" He swore loudly, the curse echoing through the darkness surrounding the platform. "What the hell is happening! What is this!" He slammed his fists against the stained glass mural. He didn't understand at all. When he fought Trowan and Ifrit, he felt his energies rising to a point he had never known before. He was stronger than ever in that fight. And now... nothing happened! He still felt the power within him, his soul merging with the darkness to make the Dawn, but nothing came of it. He knew Dawn was susceptible to his attacks, but today, she shrugged them off like he was gently shoving her.

"I don't... I don't get this!" He was breaking down, frustrated beyond all belief. "What do you want from me?" He yelled at nobody. "I'm being forced into this situation, where I don't know what's happening. Where I have nothing to guide me, where the only person who can seemingly help me wont' give me any answers!

"Why is being a Keyblader so damn hard!"

The white-haired teen let out a shuddering breath, calming down from the break. When he looked up, Dawn was standing before him, a helping hand extended.

"Riku..." She whispered gently. The floating girl helped the teen to his feet, looking at him with a more serene, chaste face. "I have somethings I need to tell you."

"W-what?" Riku stammered. "What do you mean?" Dawn brushed away a lose hair and turned away, almost in an ashamed manner.

"You see..." She began, her tone now much more tempered and gentle than normally. "There was never a 'rule' that I couldn't tell you what I am. I just... I wanted to test you."

"Test me?" Riku repeated.

She nodded in response. "Yes. We are going to be in a partnership, for better or for worse. But, I wanted to make sure you were worthy of the power you have been given. I wanted to make sure that you were the right person, the strongest person. With the strongest heart."

Riku nodded slowly, trying to grasp what the silver-eyed enigma was talking about. "Okay... but what does this have to do me. What did I do to prove all this to you?"

"You bared your soul. You thought that if you solved the mysteries about me, you would have found the key to victory for you and your friends." She explained. "You wanted your friends to finally have peace, and were willing to pour your whole essence into battle just to get this information. You wanted your friends to have everything, even if it meant sacrificing everything you had in turn." The girl smiled and blushed, looking away shyly from her so-called 'partner'. "It is a very rare person who would do that. And that's who I was looking for to inherit the power of Dawn.

"But I should have known that you had that heart," Dawn stated. "After all, you're special."

"'Special'?" Riku repeated again. Dawn nodded, and he blinked. Even when she was explaining things, this girl was still a mystery. He shook off the comment and pressed on. "So, this means you're going to tell me exactly what you are."

"Of course!" Dawn exclaimed, with a now wide smile. "I'm surprised at myself actually, that I kept this a secret for so long." She said, giving herself a literal pat on the back. "Anyways, as you know, Keyblades are very special weapons. Not just in the sense of their power, but considering that they act as if they have a mind of their own."

Riku nodded along with the explanation. He remembered back to Hollow Bastion, when he faced Sora and took the Keyblade from him, and later when the Keyblade returned to Sora. "Sentience" might too high praise for that moment, but the Keyblade could at least react to the hearts and souls of the people around it.

Dawn continued. "Well, that is because a Keyblade, every Keyblade, has its own heart, its own soul. And... that is what I am." She spread her arms wide, presenting herself to Riku. "I am the spirit of your Keyblade."

To Dawn's surprise, there wasn't much surprise on Riku's face. Actually, he looked very thoughtful at the concept. "So...that's why you appearing my heart."

"Hm?" Dawn intoned.

"Because I'm bonded with the Keyblade." Riku explained. "We're connected. That's why you are always in my heart."

A pleased expression crossed Dawn's face. "My, what a fast learner!" She complimented. "And I must say, you're taking this much better than expected."

Riku shrugged. "Well, it is a little odd, I must say. But not outside the realm of possibility. Like you said, Keyblades have minds of their own... Well, I guess I should say they have spirits of their own." Riku then jumped to another subject. "But, hold on. There are a bunch of questions that... you raise. Like, why haven't you appeared before? Why am I 'special'? And why haven't the others encountered their Keyblade Spirits?"

Dawn placed her hand on Riku's shoulder in a friendly manner. "That actually brings me to my next point." She replied. Holding up one finger, she began, "First, there are actually rules that Keyblade Wielders must abide by, especially when concerning their contact with Keyblade Spirits. One: You cannot tell anyone about the existence of Spirits, unless they already have made contact with their Spirit or know about them.

"Two: The reason that the others haven't made contact with their Keyblade Spirits yet is because, usually, a Wielder makes contact with their Spirit after obtaining the true form of their Keyblade."

"'True form'?" Questioned Riku. "What's that? Did I accomplish that already or-"

Dawn quickly broke in. "I'm not finished." She said in a sing-song voice. "Anyways. Three: The reason why I never appeared before you is divided in two reasons. For the longest time, you had no access to the powers of the Dawn. Also, even when you could use Dawn powers, that," She shuddered, "creepy guy blocked me from making contact with you."

"I take it you mean Xehanort's Heartless." Riku commented.

"Yep! When Josef destroyed the Guardian, it purged the last remnant of his essence from your heart, letting me finally contact you. And that brings me to my fourth point. Way to the Dawn is not the true form of the Keyblade." Riku was about to interrupt again, but Dawn was too quick. "And no, I'm not going to explain what those are. You have to discover that for yourself. The reason I revealed myself to you before you unlocked your true form was because of your specialness. You're special because, unlike most Keybladers, you're powers are tied mostly to you soul and heart, instead of your Keyblade. So, when you achieved the skill to use the Dawn, you needed someone to teach you how to use it and master it.

"So they sent me!" She finished with a dramatic flourish. Riku just stood in silence for a second, trying to soak in Dawn's explanation.

"So... my Dawn power comes from my soul first, and from my Keyblade second. And you're here to teach me how to use the Dawn." The white-haired teen summarized, still trying to take this all in. Although, he admitted he was relieved that the girl 'living' in his heart was just the Spirit of his weapon, and not some crazed fangirl.

"I still have one question." Riku stated, after his brief introspection. "Why was powerful when I fought Trowan and Ifrit yesterday, and absolutely useless against you today?"

For once, Dawn landed on terra firma, turning away from Riku, balancing on the balls of her feet. A finger was placed on her cheek, to emphasize her cute pose. "Well, a girl still has to have her mysteries, now doesn't she, cutie." She giggled, batting her long eyelashes at Riku. "But at least now, you have some pieces to your puzzle, right."

"Right..." Riku was conflicted. On the one hand, he was happy that Dawn was back to her happy, affectionate, energetic self, which meant less puzzles and infighting with the female Spirit. On the other hand, Dawn was back to her happy, affectionate, energetic self, which meant the doom of us all.

* * *

After a quick tour of the city, Sora felt that his first date with Kairi was slowly turning into a dud. He then blurted out that he had been planning this day for years, and Kairi managed to pry out what he had been planning in his head, and he always saw them having a picnic on the beech. Much to his surprise and relief, Kairi loved the idea too! Even with lack of food, swimsuits, and currency of any type, the two teens decided to move on fully with the plan.

They returned back to Clyde and Allister's apartment, to find the green-haired man still present. After explaining their date plans, he agreed instantly and exuberantly. He even gave them a large amount of gil (the currency now used on the Garden, except for the Moogles, they still accepted munny), the two left to get food, supplies, and swimsuits.

Instead of heading to the crowded Sea of Pluto, Sora and Kairi decided to take a little longer walk to Lake Lindblum, a small lake to the east of the city, surrounded by light forests. They found a nice serene and secluded spot off of the shore, underneath a large oak tree, where they set up their little beach-side picnic.

And, despite Sora's nervousness about the whole deal, he couldn't deny that he was extremely excited that he finally got to go on a date with Kairi! Kairi Merkant! The most beautiful girl on the entire Destiny Islands! The sweetest, nicest, bravest, strongest, most wonderful girl he had ever met on all of his travels! He had been dreaming about this day since he started liking girls (which, coincidentally, was shortly after meeting Kairi).

And so, here we was, sitting on a large picnic blanket, clad only in black and blue swimming trunks and a a light t-shirt, sitting next to Kairi, who, likewise, was only wearing a pink and white bikini. It was always pink with Kairi.

He shifted nervously on the blanket, for what must have been, the nineteenth time. He was having difficulty adjusting to the fact that Kairi was next to him in a bikini. Don't get Sora wrong, he'd seen Kairi in a bikini before! Lots of times! They lived on an island with blazing hot weather eight months of the year, of course he'd seen her in a bikini! But this was the first time he had seen her in a bikini since they first confirmed their relationship, all the way back in Traverse Town.

It was as if he had a religious experience; his eyes were wide open now, while before they were shut. He could see and appreciate every little detail on her body, from the small of her back, to the tiny clusters of acne on her chest and shoulders. Kairi had acne! This perfect girl, this vision of beauty, had acne just under her collar and along the back of her shoulders. And that flaw just made her all the more beautiful.

He shifted uncomfortably for the twentieth time, stopping halfway through, before deciding to just live and let be. The spiky haired brunette laid down backwards, arms behind his head, enjoying the view.

"This is a nice place, isn't it?" Kairi asked eventually. Sora nodded lazily.

"Very nice." Sora replied, almost dreamily. "Lush trees, green grass, beautiful lake."

Kairi turned over with a raised eyebrow. "I meant the world as a whole."

"Oh, yeah." Sora said. "It's nice too. I mean, its no Destiny Islands..."

"I know," Kairi said. "It's nice, but not as nice as home." Sora looked up, puzzled.

"Home? But I thought this place was your home."

"Home is where the heart is." Kairi responded. "I mean, I do like this world, and the people have been nothing but friendly to us, but I've spent most of my life on the Islands, and can barely remember anything about the Garden." She sat up, bending her legs upward too. "For now, the Islands are still my home."

Sora sat up too. He had noted a certain tone in her voice. "You know, if you ever want to live here in the future, I'll pack up with you in a heartbeat."

Kairi laughed. "Oh? You sound so sure of yourself." She teased. "What makes you think you'll be with me in the future?"

"I...just do..." Sora said nervously. He had some feelings that he never really told anyone, sometime he felt he was in denial about them. "I mean, I don't want to sound like one of those sappy poets we learn about in English class, but ever since I first met you, I've wanted nothing more than to be with you...forever." The brunette blushed at the admission, but was met by Kairi, who inched her way over to Sora, resting her head on his shoulders. At first, the Keyblader didn't know how to react fully, but eventually he put his right arm over Kairi's shoulder, pulling the redhead even closer.

"I've wanted that for sometime too." Kairi whispered. It took all of her will not to blush and freak out. There was something about being hugged and held by Sora in this way. He was so strong, but soft, and warm too. "Hey Sora," she began, the boy in question looking down at her. "When you first got the Keyblade, did you feel...different?"

"I think so..." Even though it was a little over a year when the Kingdom Key first appeared in his grasp, it seemed like a long, long time ago. "But I don't think it was because of the Keyblade. I think it was because I was of all the new things I was seeing and doing. I got to enact out all those fantasies I had back on the children's island when I was a kid." He then stopped for a moment. "Are you asking that because of what happened yesterday? With Dayne...?"

Kairi nodded, which Sora could feel up against her shoulder. Her hair lightly rubbing against his skin. "When I fought Kira...when I stood up to Dayne... I could feel this... fire in me." Sad as she was to admit, Kairi was a little bit of a meek girl, not always as strong or defiant as she should have been. "It was different, but it was good too." She smiled widely at the thought. "I feel like I could do anything I wanted to, and that no one could stop me!"

"Well, you kind of are already. I mean, look at you now..." Sora commented.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, from what I heard back home, you've never been on a date either." Sora was relieved actually, to find out that Kairi was still single when he got back. "And what would your dad think if he saw you cuddling and hugging with me? He would say something like," Sora switched his voice to a gruff, brutish tone, "'I will not have my precious daughter date this scrawny miscreant'!"

Kairi laughed at Sora's little impression, before drawing out of his grasp, but no holding onto his hands. "Do you know what?" She asked. "Do you know what the first thing I'm going to do when we get back home. I'm going right up to my father and tell him we're going out and he can't do anything to stop us!"

The two shared a sweet smile at one another, before Sora asked, "How are you going to do that?"

"Well...actually..." She inched in closer to him again, this time staying face to face with her boyfriend. "I think I would rather show him..."

With the same thing in mind, the two leaned in to one another, kissing each other. It was soft, light, fleeting, lasting only a second. The leaned in again, closing their eyes this time, this time lasting longer than before. Sora like the way Kairi's lips felt against his, but, then again, he like everything about her. They were soft, and Sora could smell some sort of perfume or body wash that Kairi used. It smelt like sweet flowers, vanilla, and a little bit of honey.

They broke apart again, the young lovers a little breathless. But they went back again, kissing one more time. Kissing for a long time, deeply, passionately, breathlessly, and feverishly. When they broke apart, the two were blushing hard, grinning like idiots, and giggling a little bit. It was still a new feeling, and took some getting use to. Actually expressing how they felt for one another.

For the next few hours, the two sat by the lakeside, sometimes talking, sometimes cuddling, sometimes kissing. They stayed there until around sundown, when Dayne appeared. The warrior was still a little melancholy, but he had made a great recovery compared to last night. Dayne then left, letting the boyfriend and girlfriend walk back to the city together, hand in hand, as the stars came out, awkwardly sharing glances and smiles.

It may not have been much of a date, but it was a day that none of them would ever forget. They found a small bit of light from the tragedy they were witness to yesterday. They would brave forward on their journey, together, and they would not let anything separate them.

It may not have been much of a date, but both Sora and Kairi learned one thing.

Kissing on a date was much better than kissing in the middle of a battle field.

**To Be Continued**

_Awe, isn't that sweet? I may admit it, it's not up to the SoKai standard that is the "Annals of Darkness", but, what are you going to do? They're new to this!_

**Chapter Preview**

_Sora: This seems very odd. A world at peace, in the middle of all this turmoil._

_Dayne: I don't know. Something seems fishy. I can smell it..._

_Kairi: We don't have to worry about anything. This war with the Immortals is all but won, right?_

_Kaiser: Wrong you are little missy! You should make sure we're done for good before wrapping up this story of yours!_

_Sora: We're not going to back down anymore! Bring it on!_

_Next Chapter: The beast is unleashed, and the dark angel descends. **Genesis of Destiny 33: The Savage Truth.**_

_Kaiser: You think you're little desperation attack has crippled us. Well, get ready to be burned by the truth! KIYAHAHAHAH!_

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_Please Review_

_SirAngelo  
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	33. The Savage Truth

_No really smart introduction this week. This chapter is...alright. I just haven't been feeling the mood to write the last week so I apologize if this isn't up to my usual standard._

_Also, this past week, the last chapter for Fullmetal Alchemist was released in Japan. As anyone who reads this fic knows, I am a huge FMA fan. So, while I am glad to see the series come to a conclusion, I am very crestfallen to see the end of such a great, excellent series. I won't spoil the last chapter for you, but it focuses less on the plot and story, and mostly serves as a way to complete the arcs of several characters. It is effective, emotional, and a wonderful conclusion. I'll dearly miss it._

_And finally, Square decided to do the smart thing and repackaged "Kingdom Hearts: Coded" onto the DS, calling it "Kingdom Hearts: re:Coded". Very smart move, cause I can't stand cellphone games. Also, with E3 this week, we're gonna get to see a lot of KH stuff. Hopefully a lot of BBS in english, and a brand new KH game is confirmed to be announced at the show. It should be a good week!  
_

Chapter 33: The Savage Truth

As much as everyone enjoyed the peaceful, idyllic day they just experienced, the Keybladers still had an important duty to attend to, and so they left the calm of the Radiant Garden later that evening and were off to the next world.

The next world, as it were, turned out to be the Pride Lands; the grand African landscapes, home to countless species of magnificent beasts, and one of the few worlds where a complete change in physical anatomy was a necessity.

As soon as the group made landfall, Sora bounded out into the open savannah, back in his brown-furred, lion cub form. He stopped instantly, taking in the the changes that had occurred over the past few months. The plains of the Pride Lands had turned from a lifeless, grey wasteland into a flourishing grassland, full of bright yellow grass, large, lush green trees, and numerous herds of many different species. Zebras, gazelles, giraffes, wildebeests, elephants, baboons, and hippopotamuses were all seen mingling about the savannah. And in the distance, rising above all other things, like a holy temple, was Pride Rock itself, home of the great lion pride that ruled this world.

"This is certainly...different..." Sora turned around, to see Kairi padding out to his location. Her new form was a lion cub too, with rose pink coloured fur and her normal dark red hair sprouting from the top of her head. Its a good thing there wasn't a biologist present to point out the fact that lionesses do not grow any hair from their head whatsoever, as Kairi was a walking anatomical inaccuracy.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked back. "The world itself? Being an animal?"

"Walking on four legs." Kairi wiggled each of her paws. "You would think it wouldn't be so different from walking on two legs, but it is." She considered herself lucky for not tripping just walking out to meet Sora.

"You'll get used to it. Even I had trouble my first time around." Sora admitted. He then craned his head around, looking. "Hey, where's Dayne?"

"I think he's still skulking behind that rock." Kairi noted. The warrior apparently did not like being turned into an animal. Kairi turned back and called. "Dayne! Come on, we can't leave without you!"

"I don't wanna be a furry..." They heard Dayne mumble, as he stepped out into the clearing. He had become an exceptionally large jackal, with black fur, long, upright ears, and a tuft of his silvery-blue hair shooting out between his hears. A harness was attached to his back, which acted as a sheath for High Streak. There was a displeased look on his snout.

"This sucks." He stated bluntly. Both Sora and Kairi had noted a large shift in Dayne's demeanor since Rain's passing. Where before he was boisterous, quick to anger, and with an endless supply of energy and emotions, within the past day, he had become much more quiet, reserved, and melancholy. He didn't even flip out when he saw Sora and Kairi hold hands and kiss, something that, in the past, would have had him threatening Sora with his life. It was definitely a topic of concern, but they though it best to give him his space and let him grieve in his own way.

"Well I think you look very dignified." Kairi complimented, before turning to Sora and saying. "And you look adorable." She was a cat person, and if she had hands right now, she would most likely be cuddling lion-Sora and petting him until the day ended.

"You look very cute too..." Sora blushed in return. "Not that I'm 'into' animals or anything..."

Dayne broke in. "So, this is familiar territory to you," he said to Sora, "Where do we go?" The lion cub Keyblader motioned over his shoulder.

"To Pride Rock," Sora pointed out. "If anything is happening, we'll find out there." The other two nodded and they were off.

At first, while Sora was a master of his lion form, both Kairi and Dayne struggled with their quadrupedal bodies, showing great difficulty in moving all four of their limbs in sync. Sora easily loped across the plains, before he realized that his companions could only manage a quick trot at the most. After this realization, Sora quickly turned back, and helped the two newbies get use to walking in these new bodies, before they set out to Pride Rock in earnest.

As they climbed the rock face, the trio earned odd looks from some of the other lions, clearly due to the fact that Dayne was a jackal and not a lion, and that Sora and Kairi's fur colouration was completely unnatural, but nobody paid any mind until they reached the peak of the lion's home.

"Simba!" Sora exclaimed as he saw the proud leader of the lions of the Pride Lands. Still the same as ever, the yellow-furred lion turned at the sound of the voice, smiling at the sight of Sora.

"Sora!" He returned, loping over to the young Keyblader. "It's good to see you again." He the looked past his old friend, to see his new, unfamiliar companions. "No Donald and Goofy this time? Who might these two be?"

Sora introduced his friends. "This is Dayne, and this is my girlfriend Kairi."

"It's nice to meet you," Kairi greeted. Dayne just bowed his head slightly.

"Oh, so this is the famous Kairi I heard so much about." Simba noted. "You know, this little cub just wouldn't stop talking about you the entire time he was here."

Kairi smiled. "I know. Everyone I've met who knows Sora keeps telling me how worried he was over me." Everywhere she went was a testament to Sora's compassion towards Riku and herself, and it warmed herself every time.

Simba turned back to Sora and asked, "So, what are you all doing back here?"

"On another journey," Sora admitted. "We've been going all over the place, and we're wondering if anything has been happening here?"

Simba shook his head, a surprising act to Sora. "Actually, no. Ever since we got rid of Scar and the Heartless, it has been nice and peaceful here." The lion king turned and looked out onto his kingdom. "Nothing has bothered us, giving us a chance to finally restore the land. Its just like when my father was ruling." Simba smiled broadly at the thought, before turning back to Sora. "You look at little disappointed."

"What? Oh no." There was a look on Sora's face that could be described as disappointment, but maybe it wasn't. "I'm just a little surprised that it's so peaceful here. We, uh, we recently just lost one of our allies..." Simba nodded slowly, he remembered the hopelessness he felt we Mufasa had died.

"It's not easy." He stated simply. The Keyblade Master silently agreed.

Meanwhile, Dayne and Kairi were watching the two friends, Dayne in a more halfhearted manner. The warrior-turned-jackal lay flat down on his belly, tapping lightly against the stone with his dog-like paws. Kairi padded up next to her bodyguard.

"How are you holding up?" She asked softly, still aware that Rain was a touchy subject with him. Even she was finding it a little difficult, not being able to look around and find the stoic yet warm Rain right next to Dayne. She could only imagine what Dayne was going through.

"I'm fine." Dayne replied in a little too harsh manner. He had had his moment of grief, and now he had to take one for the team. Sad as he still was, he had to man up for the good of the mission.

Without warning, an old, wise-looking mandrill appeared before Dayne. He wielded a crooked tree branch as a staff, leaning on it, as he closely examined Dayne.

"...Can I help you?" Dayne asked the mandrill, not sure of what to say.

The sagely looking beast chuckled loudly. "Help me? No. You should be helping yourself, yes?" He chuckled again before bounding away. Both Dayne and Kairi watched for a moment.

"That was weird..." Dayne muttered, before resting his head on the ground again. Not a second later, something struck him on top of the head. Hard. "Son of a..." He growled in pain, clutching his head with his paws. The mandrill, Rafiki, leaped in front of Dayne again, chanting happily as he went.

"What do you want from me?" Dayne snarled at the shaman.

"Want? I want nothing from you, my boy." Rafiki replied. Dayne did not like being called 'boy'. "My business is to know, not to want." He chuckled to himself again.

"Well, if you want to know something, then ask away, wise monkey..." Dayne responded sarcastically. Rafiki smacked him on the head again, apparently for calling him a monkey. "God damn..."

The mandrill then took another look at Dayne, inquisitively staring at him, while stroking his wild mane of a beard. Just when Dayne thought the shaman was about to say something important, he jumped away again, this time landing in front of Kairi, staring at her in the same way he watched Dayne.

Needless to say, the girl was startled. "Um...hi?" Rafiki made no reply, just looking at her with the wild, wise orbs known as his eyes.

After a few uncomfortable seconds, Rafiki finally came to life again. "Ha-ha!" He exclaimed, jumping around and chanting once more. "I see! You two are just like the boy!" He motioned over to Sora, who was still talking to Simba. "Just like him! He-he!"

"What's he talking about?" Dayne whispered to Kairi. The female lion cub shrugged sideways. Rafiki, once again, suddenly appeared before the two, startling them again.

"I've looked at the boy before." Rafiki told them, having heard Dayne's comment. "A king of lions he is not, but he has a great destiny before him. I don't even need to look anywhere else. I can see it around him. And you share it two! You two are just like him. Same look. Same destiny. He-he! Meant for something great, yes?"

Dayne rolled his eyes. "Right..."

Kairi was more open to Rafiki's ramblings. "What kind of destiny?" She asked.

"A great one!" Rafiki repeated, drawing an exasperated sigh from Kairi and Dayne.

Kairi tried again. "I mean, what is the destiny you keep talking about?"

"That, I do not know." Rafiki answered. Another sigh. "But you do not need to know the destiny to know that it will be a great one."

Dayne was thankful when he saw Sora returning to the group. Kairi maybe fairly acquiescent to Rafiki's talk about destiny, but Dayne wanted no part of it.

"So, what's up?" He asked Sora, who had a fairly neutral look about him.

"Nothing." Sora replied, drawing a blank stare from Dayne.

"Do you mean nothing like 'nothing that directly jumps out as suspicious' or quite literally nothing is happening?" Dayne asked.

"Literally nothing!" Sora clarified. "Simba says that nothing out of the ordinary has happened since I left the last time." Dayne frowned for some reason or another. Sora had to admit he was surprised when he heard the new too, but he was also happy that there was at least one world out there that had become peaceful.

"So then, what do we do?" Kairi asked. Rafiki had apparently left as quickly and mysteriously as he came.

The question didn't need to be ask, as all three knew what the score was. "We have to stay and wait for the Blank Medallion to fire off." Dayne groaned at the prospect.

"We don't have time to lounge around this place, while the Immortals are doing who knows what!" He argued.

"Hey, I agree with you." Sora replied. "Its not like I'm ordering everyone to stay here, its just how this journey works." Dayne laid down again, grumbling about Terra and his rules. Sora then stamped his paw on the ground, a substitute for snapping. "There is one thing we can do! I never sealed the Keyhole for this world. That's got to be what we have to do! We have to find the Keyhole!"

Kairi spoke up to get the other's attention. "Um...guys?" She called out in question. Dayne and Sora turned around to see what Kairi was seeing. Climbing across the uneven rock face, was a particularly large and unnatural looking tiger. Black stripes on white fur, there was a very familiar savage look in its yellow eyes.

"Afternoon, my bestial counterparts." If the body wasn't a big enough hint, then the voice automatically was.

"Kaiser!" All three heroes shouted in unison. The tiger Immortal grinned, bounding down the rocks to a level slightly lower than the Keybladers.

"Hey, guys..." He replied slyly. He cocked his head to the side. "What's this? You guys are looking a lot smaller since the last time I saw you." Dayne growled at the comment. "It's been five days, what happened?"

Simba joined the back of the party. "Sora, who is this?"

"Kaiser." Sora said quickly. "Do you me telling you about those black-cloaked guys?" Simba nodded. "Well, this guy is about ten-times as nasty as they were." Kaiser chuckled at the comment.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"What do you want?" Dayne barked (pardon the pun, considering his form). "Besides to be a pain in our asses!"

"You'll see soon enough..." Kaiser drawled, sly as before. He craned his neck out towards the plains. "Follow me out there. Just you three. Not the big, bad, lion king... Then you'll see what's up!" And with that, Kaiser pounced away, deftly leaping down Pride Rock and running out into the savannah.

Sora turned to the others. "Should we follow him?"

"If we leave him unchecked, there's not telling what kind of damage he could cause." Kairi offered. That was enough, as the group all nodded in agreement.

"Simba," Sora said, turning back to his longtime friend. "Stay here okay. If this guy just wants us, thats fine. We don't want you to get wrapped up in this."

A little hesitant to just let his friend run off into battle, Simba eventually conceded. "Alright. Be safe!" The group started to leave. "I'll watch out for you guys!" He called as they left the foot of the cliff and dashed out to the plains.

Given Kaiser's size, and his normal animalistic traits, it was expected that he would be much faster than anyone else in the party, easily covering a few yards with a single, powerful stride. The gap between Immortal and heroes was only made more when several silvery beings came slithering into existence. These Nobodies were of a new variety the group hadn't seen before. More humanoid in shape than any previous seen type of lesser Nobody (except maybe Dancers, which they shared some traits with); they were tall, lithe, and with a clear feminine shape. They were silver and pale yellow, they had curved bodies, the Nobody symbol branded on their bellies, with long arms, ending in hands bound in a brassy material. Their feet were shaped to look like high-heeled boots, and their legs covered in something akin to a long skirt. Pale yellow wrapped around their upper bodies, designed to look like a martial arts gi, with a black slit in their heads forming a visor, and two short antenna, slicked backwards, popping out from their heads. In each hand, they held a small set of dangerous looking knives. These were the Ninja Nobodies.

Instantly, Sora and Kairi summoned their Keyblades, Kairi surprised to see Oathkeeper appeared in their jaws. It seems that Kairi and Dayne would now have a crash course on fighting in the Pride Lands. Dayne reached over and drew High Streak from its harness, as all three jumped into the fray.

Now experts at fighting, Sora and Kairi quickly took care of the Ninjas, even with Kairi's handicap of fighting in a new body. Dayne on the other hand, wasn't doing so good. His snout happened to be narrower than both the lion cubs' jaws, as well as his own human fist, meaning his grip on the large sword was drastically reduced. The Ninjas also happened to be the fastest and nimblest of all the lesser Nobodies, able to easily dodge most frontal assaults. Their speed magnified his troubles with wielding High Streak in his new body. And on top of all of this, without fingers, Dayne could not activate the motor on High Streak, taking yet another move out of his arsenal. The Ninja were easily able to dodge all of Dayne's strikes, and then skirt around him, peppering him with their throwing knives.

With each annoying projectile landing in his body, Dayne's temper was building higher and higher. Eventually, he saw that Sora and Kairi had already cleared out their opponents, while his remained untouched. "To hell with this!" Dayne roared through the hilt of his weapon, as he bounded away from the Nobodies. Without moving left or right, the lithe beings were able to get a clear shot at the jackal, throwing even more kunai his way.

Eventually, Dayne turned around, charging forward at full speed. The Ninjas continued their relentless assault, believing that if they stuck enough knives in Dayne, he would go down before he reached them.

They were wrong of course, as Dayne continued to run recklessly, eventually getting in range and then jerking his dog head around violently, swinging High Streak with freakish power, and cutting the Nobodies in half with easy. What few Ninjas that remained continued to throw their weapons at Dayne, but he shrugged off the minor wounds and repeated the mad charge and savage attack, finally bringing the annoyances to rest.

Dayne then shook his whole body, like a dog would to dry its fur. Kunai and blood showered off his body, as his wounds healed up.

"Are you okay Dayne?" Kairi asked in a concerned tone.

"I'm fine." He grunted. Kairi and Sora looked to one another with a dubious look in their eyes, but nothing came of it, as all three spotted a white gaze far off on the horizon. Kaiser!

They continued to follow Kaiser, who had stopped in a sandy clearing in the middle of the large grasslands.

"Took you long enough." The Immortal-tiger sneered.

"What was the point of that?" Sora asked, a hard glare trained on Kaiser. The Immortal grinned wildly, showing off a mouth of razor sharp teeth

"I wanted to see how you could handle fighting in your animal forms." He shook his head like a sad parent. "Gotta say, I was not impressed."

Kairi grinned. "We're more than enough to kick you sorry ass. Two legs or four."

"Whether that is true or not, little lady," Kaiser tsked. Even when he seemed to be gentlemanly and normal, Kaiser always had a savage tint to his voice. "Its not good enough for me. Ya see...I relish fighting! Its the only thing in this universe I truly love. Nothing can beat a good fight! Nothing! So obviously, I've had my eyes on you for quite some time..." He licked his lips, his predatory form adding more to the effect.

"And I must say. I am impressed. Ever since Amestris, ever since near the start of your adventure, you've bested us at every turn. Not an easy task to say the least. What's more, you've bumped off three Immortals!" That was a surprise to the group. Who had killed the third one? "Sure, Rosa was a vain weakling, and Josef was a maniacal fool, but," he then added with an evil grin, "You also did kill Cassius. Even though...well, you know."

Sora and Kairi stared down Kaiser hard. Dayne wearing his heart on his sleeve again, and bristling like an actual dog, growling fiercely at him too.

Kaiser chuckled at the reaction. "Which is why, it has come to this." Kaiser then lurched his whole body forward, making disgusting hoarking and hacking sounds, as if he was coughing up a hairball. Eventually, Kaiser did eject whatever it was in his stomach, not a hairball, but a small jewel that he caught in his teeth. "I'm really glad I had old Ramziel whip this up for me, before coming here!"

With that, Kaiser flung his head into the sky, releasing the jewel. Hitting the apex of the throw, the jewel shone with a blinding blue light, covering all four in its shining nimbus, before the entire world turned to white.

When the light faded, Sora groaned at the annoying sensation of his eyesight slowly returning to him. He rubbed his eyes with his hands to speed the process up. He stopped. His _hands_. When his sight finally did returned to him, he looked down and around, seeing that he, along with Kaiser, Kairi, and Dayne, had all returned to their human forms!

"What the hell happened...?" He wondered aloud, stepping back for a moment. He then noticed his surroundings. No longer were they in the grassy savannah of the Pride Lands. Instead, they were standing on a large, flat rock, which floated in the middle of a mysterious blue maelstrom!

"A little present from Ramziel." Kaiser quipped. "It transported us to this pocket dimension. And, by the by, I would watch your step. Fall into that vortex around us, and I don't know what'll happen." He cackled to himself in evil glee.

"Why are you doing all this?" Kairi demanded, re-summoning Oathkeeper to be safe.

"Like I said, missy," the predatory Immortal hissed, "I love a fight! So its only natural that I want to fight the three of you at your full strength!" He wriggled his claws in anticipation. "And give you my full power in return! It's survival of the fittest!"

"What does survival of the fittest that have to do with anything?" Kairi asked again. Kaiser bobbed his head side-to-side.

"You're a chirpy one, aren't ya?" He snarled. Kairi glared back at him, which caused him to break out in another maniacal cackle. "It's one of the few things that combat and the animal kingdom share with one another. In any environment, the strongest, the fastest, and the most skilled at adapting rise to the top. They become the apex, preying on the weak, which is everyone else! The weak, the slow, those who are not willing or able to adapt and change have two choices. They can except a lesser, subservient role, preying on those lower than them, while either serving the ones above them, or being more prey for them. Or, they can be stubborn, and can continue to fight to become the apex, which they never will be. They will fight and struggle and will either be forced into a lesser role, or rendered irrelevant and extinct.

"That is my way of life. That is my coda! I am the strongest, and so the weak are all my prey! They will all be swept away and crushed by my furious strength! But now, I see you three, encroaching upon my territory, my apex, and we now have a contest to see who really is the fittest. I either win and crush you like all the others before you... or you somehow prove me wrong, and force me from the top, where I will become just another casualty in this beautiful system of nature." He gave a very unsettling smile, once again, full of razor sharp, nasty looking teeth, his eyes glinting in the light of the blue tornado surrounding them.

Dayne wasn't impressed. "Okay. You can talk pretty. But can you back it up?" He heaved High Streak, thankful he could now wield it with two, fully functional hands. Kaiser laughed again.

"Oh, Deuce, you should now very well, _very_ well, how I can back my talk up!"

With that said, Kaiser began to rise into the air, as if possessed by a demonic force, standing on the tips of his toes and his gnarled toenails. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, his body beginning to twist and contort in a sick way. The tendons in his neck bulged out, as he unleashed a primal scream, a film of energy beginning to pick up around him.

"What...what is he doing?" Sora asked Dayne, knowing he was the expert on these sort of things.

"He's letting the beast out," Dayne replied in a grim manner. "If you thought he was a savage animal before, just wait..." He had seen this transformation before, and he knew firsthand, that charging Kaiser mid-change would prove fruitless. That energy aura around him acted as a very effective barrier.

Kaiser's first change may have been the most unsettling one. His limbs began to twist and turn, contorting violently, the sound of bones snapping ringing through the small dimension. In an act that defied nature, Kaiser's arms and legs lengthened, the sick sound of bones breaking audible throughout, as was the sight of his sinew and tendons bulging outward.

Kaiser's jaw also unhinged, opening up to an inhuman degree. Hell, it had stretched wider than some snakes could stretch! The already razor sharp teeth began to grow and multiply, filling his mouth to the brim with a large amount of curved daggers and jagged spurs.

The changes continued with his hands and arms. Like his teeth, his already sharp, claw-like nails began to magnify their condition. The nails turned jet black, slowly merging with Kaiser's fingers, which were growing as well. Soon, both of Kaiser's hands ended with five, curved, onyx talons.

The sickles jutting from his elbows were the next to transform, growing in size so that they reached up to the tips of his shoulders, and widening into large falchion-like blades. If the transformation wasn't sickening enough, the skin on Kaiser's forearms and wrists split open, exposing the sharp edges of the blades, which jutted out even more, and created a continuous blade, starting at the bottom of the back of his hand, and extending all the way out and up to his shoulders.

The transformation done, Kaiser's eyes rolled back to their normal position, looking even more fierce and savage than before (if that was at all possible). He stood hunched over, stretching his newly changed body, wiggling his talons, and licking his lips. "Ah, it's good to let the beast out of the cage!" His voice was even more rasping and guttural than before.

Sora and Kairi clearly showed their fear and hesitance in fighting Kaiser, mostly due to seeing the horrific change. But Dayne had no such qualms, charging boldly at the high-ranking Immortal. Kaiser, clearly relishing the chance, jumped full force at his opponent. Leaping into the air, he brought his scythe blade down on Dayne's chest with a violent blow, easily cutting deep into his chest and drawing a lot of blood!

"One," Kaiser remarked, in a way that reminded Sora too much of Cassius. He then finished up with a spinning heel kick, knocking the bloody, dazed Dayne down. He twirled away and took his stance, looking at his two possible opponents. "Come on!" He snarled evilly. "Where was all the pomp and hard looks a moment ago? Are you two afraid? Are you too realizing that you are...weak?"

Although the words bit into Sora more, Kairi charged first, taking a more careful approach compared to Dayne. Kaiser leaped at her too, bringing his claws down on in a fierce slash. Kairi brought up Oathkeeper, easily blocking the black talons. While locked up, Kaiser chuckled at the sight of the warrior princess. "You know, I always do like my girls with a little spunk," he sneered, licking his lips a little.

Scowling in disgust, Kairi forced Kaiser off of her, backing away slightly, while Kaiser did the same. Rearing his entire upper body backwards, Kaiser jumped into the air again, this time compacting his body into a ball, the elbow blades sticking out of the ball. Stampeding through the air, Kaiser spun around at violent speeds, a whirling sound clearly following him. Unable to dodge in time, Kairi quickly casted a Protect spell and held her ground for the impact. Kaiser smashed into Oathkeeper, the spinning dervish of death grinding against the white bars of the Keyblade, earning a shower of sparks.

Before her guard could break, a fireball blasted into the back of the spinning Kaiser, causing him to tumble over top of Kairi, and sending him sprawling along the ground. Sora followed up the Firaga spell with a combo of quick Keyblade slashes. Kaiser easily swatted away the artifact weapon with his talons. As Sora and Kaiser exchanged blows, Sora noticed his foes arm's were glowing with an increasingly intense energy. It was lucky he had good combat awareness, as Kaiser darted forward with a thrusting claw. Sora nimbly sidestepped the lunge, also avoiding the stream of energy that fired forth from Kaiser's claw!

Cackling like a madman again, Kaiser jumped backwards, slamming both his energized arms to the ground when he landed. This unleashed a wave of energy, shooting forth like an arrow. The berserking Immortal jumped all around, unleashing the arrow-shaped wave every time he landed, not caring if his foes could dodge the attack, or even if the attack came anywhere near them. He gleefully cried out in madness and blood lust as he went.

Eventually, the nimble chaos of Kaiser's offence was stymied when he landed right next to Dayne. The warrior gave a two-handed sword slash right to Kaiser's ribs, halting the spree of energy waves and sending a bloody Kaiser tumbling away in a spastic manner again. The wound, which was a fairly deep cut, seemed to have no immediate detrimental effects of the savage being, as he soon recovered, growling with anger as always, and bounding high into the air once more.

While the group was expecting something to happen when Kaiser landed, what did happen was not on their minds at all. Kaiser sunk into the stone platform like it was water! The move was complete with rippling stone and everything! Sora, Kairi, and Dayne waited impatiently for Kaiser's follow up, which came in the form of the Immortal rising out of the ground as seamlessly as he sunk into it! His body was fully extended, like an actual predatory cat ready to pounce on its prey. And his prey was Kairi!

Luckily, Sora noticed this, yelling "Kairi!" loudly, and shoving her out of the path of danger when the warning wouldn't be enough. Kaiser's claws came down fast and hard, biting deeply into his back. Sora fell to his knees, and prepared for a follow up attack.

After drawing the blood of the Keyblade Master, Kaiser reared backwards, before launching himself into the air, trashing about wildly with his legs and arms. He managed to kick Kairi in the face, his jagged nails piercing her skin, and he slashed down on Dayne's neck and shoulder with one of his massive scythe blades. The attacks knocked both warriors away from the downed Sora, allowing Kaiser to go for the expected follow up with a vicious slash.

"I don't think so, buddy!"

A flash of light appeared before Sora, as Kaiser's claw was stopped by an onyx steel blade! Roxas had materialized in the real world, now armed with Sleeping Lion and Oblivion.

Namine had likewise appeared next to Kairi, blasting the stunned Kaiser with a Triple Firaga spell! All three fireballs exploded into the savage, knocking him backwards, and allowing the double Keyblader to strike. He lunged forward, striking with a downward x-slash, Oblivion catching him on the arm, and Sleeping Lion slicing the Immortal across the chest and throwing him back to the precipice of the floating stone.

Roxas turned around and offered his other a hand. "Thought you guys could use a little...'blond support' after all those days with out us." He declared smugly. Sora grinned in return, and accepted the blond boy's hand.

"Well, you sure took your sweet time." Sora replied.

"Roxas likes to be very dramatic." Namine offered. "Always arriving at the last moment, and such."

During the little exchange, Dayne had continued to the fight, charging in headlong with no plan in mind. Kaiser saw the straight charge and grinned sadistically, hurling his arm outward to unleash another beam of energy. It made contact with Dayne, causing him to stop momentarily, but the wound healed, and Dayne continued the charge. Kaiser made a bestial sound that sounded like he was impressed by the spirit of his foe, and continued his assault, firing more and more jagged rays of energy from his hands. Each beam slammed into Dayne, ripping him open, but he ignored it all, and finally managed to get in range of his opponent.

First with a vicious overhand chop, then with two crossing slashes to the midsection, Dayne unleashed his fury. Kaiser easily blocked the chop with his arm sickle blades, but the impact was jarring, even for him. He could not recover in time to stop the crossing slashes from tearing into his chest, drawing more blood and more howls and grunts. But Kaiser shrugged off the damage just like Dayne had, taking the force of the slashes and using it as momentum to flip away. Landing deftly on his feet, both of his arm sickles shone with a bright blue energy, looking even more razor sharp than before. He swung his arms inward, the blades detaching from the entirety of his arms and swinging to Dayne like a pair of wicked boomerangs!

Too close to Kaiser to dodge effectively, both energized sickles buzzed into Dayne's chest, rotating violently deeper and deeper into his torso! When the spinning blades were finished tearing into the ex-Immortal, returning to Kaiser like faithful pets, Dayne was victim to a further assault, with Kaiser jabbing one of his taloned hands into his abdomen like a spear! The force of the lunge was enough to lift Dayne's entire body off of the ground, before Kaiser easily tossed him into the air.

An injured Sora was the next opponent for Kaiser, but the back injury just hampered the Keyblader too much. Slowed down by the wound, Sora was toppled in seconds, and Kaiser knocked Kingdom Key from his grip, and then kicked the despairing boy to the side, choosing to settle on more able prey.

Eyes trained on Kairi, Roxas, and Namine, Kaiser leaped into the air, twisting his body around and unleashing his sickle blades again, the two buzzing blades bouncing and spiraling all over the battlefield.

Roxas didn't look too concerned though. "I got this covered!" He declared with a twirl of his Keyblades. "Gemini Raid!" Roxas mirrored his opponent by hurling both his weapons like boomerangs! Spinning Keyblades met whirling energized blades, causing the scythes to rebound backwards, Kaiser catching them in the gaps in his arm.

Kaiser landed again, and quick as a cat charged after Namine. But the blonde-haired girl was already, ready, preparing a spell as Kaiser came into a range. "Crystal Gardens !" She shouted. A large circle of white light appeared under Namine's feet, causing the rampaging Immortal to skid to a stop and back away. His fear were realized when the circle exploded, unleashing three large boulders of ice. The attack was not finished though, as the boulders began to levitate, spinning around Namine, who darted forward, sliding on a film of magically created ice! She instantly reached Kaiser, with all three ice chunks smashing into the predatory Immortal countless time. Finally, the boulders erupted into a smashing gale of ice particles, digging into Kaiser and damaging him even more!

Kaiser fell back from the spray of crystal shards, only to be met by Kairi, wielding a burning Oathkeeper, under the influence of the Firaga Blade technique. Kaiser did his best to block Oathkeeper's superheated slashes, but his injuries were effecting him harshly. He was much slower now, and his body did not have the same strength as before. Every time he blocked the flame wrapped Keyblade with his taloned claws, they were batted away, while the impact rattled his bones and the flames shot up his skin. Eventually, Kairi was able to overwhelm her furious opponent, getting to his side and severing one of his scythe blades in two with a burning slash!

Kaiser roared in pain, as the steel blade growing from his body clattered to the ground. He tried to spin away from the skilled warrior princess, but was knocked to the ground by a pair of exploding fireballs that came from Roxas and Namine.

"Let's finish this guy, once and for all!" Roxas exclaimed, seeing the smoking, bloody, and crumpled Immortal.

Kairi nodded. "He's been a pain in our necks since the beginning." All three raised their main Keyblades at the downed Immortal. Elemental energy began to form at the tips of the blades, Thunder for Roxas, Blizzard for Namine, and Fire for Kairi.

"Magic Trinity!"

All three shot their elemental blasts in unison, the three spells swirling together into one single shining blast of magical energy, rocketing straight to Kaiser.

It all happened so fast. A series of diamond shaped steel blades shot down from the sky, shielding Kaiser from the Magic Trinity attack. There was a great explosion, as smoke filled the arena and tiny shards of steel flew every which way. The party gathered together, even the injured Sora and Dayne, to figure out what had just happened.

When the smokescreen cleared, Kaiser was still around, the triple magic blast having been completely deflected by the mysterious steel blades.

A new voice entered the swirling void, light and lyrical, with an element of familiarity to it. "Well...aren't you glad that I came around to be your guardian angel, Kaiser?"

The Keybladers looked up to the source of the voice, seeing a massive orb of darkness hanging at the apex of the vortex. Descending from the orb came a figured dressed in a white hooded cloak, tall and skinny, and with two wings growing out from its shoulder blades. The wings were odd to say the least. They looked like they were layered, giving the impression of feathers, but their colouration and texture was all wrong, looking like metal.

"Who are you?" Sora asked, spying the split heart of the Immortals at the peak of the newcomer's cloak.

He ignored the question. "Go back to Paradiso." The winged man ordered Kaiser, in a calm, cold, unwavering voice.

"What? No!" Kaiser argued, spitting the words out in pain. He growled at the injuries. "You do not come between me and my hunt! I will-" The mysterious man cut him off.

"If I let you continued this senseless hunt, I would be losing one of my strongest Immortals. Go back, and I promise you that you will face them once more on another day."

A scowl of distaste crossed Kaiser's face. This was not the way he lived, this was not his coda of survival of the fittest! But he knew that arguing this man would only grant him the death of a weakling. So he gave one last parting glare to the Keybladers, before jumping into the black orb high above him.

The winged man turned his attention back to the hero party. "I must say, I was very impressed by what I just saw. I never expected your skills to grow so much in such a short amount of time." He congratulated, with the same even, cold tone as before.

Sora repeated his earlier question. "Who are you?"

The figure chuckled to himself. "And here I thought I left such a memorable impression on all of you..." Before anyone could question the statement, he threw back his hood, revealing his face. It was as lean as the rest of his body, with his hair tied back into a neat, short ponytail.

But... it was obvious who this was.

It was Cassius.

His face was thinner, his hairstyle different. But everything else was the same! He had the same cruel expression of superiority on his face, the same burning yellow-red eyes, and the same bizarre hair colour, black and grey with traces of electric blue. It was Cassius!

To say the least, the party was shocked by the revelation, the appearance of a ghost before them.

Dayne himself, fell to his knees, mouth agape at Cassius's return. "No. No..." He babbled in hushed shock. "You're dead. You're dead!"

"Can you kill something that is immortal?" Cassius mused, chuckling to himself. "One of my containers maybe dead, but my perfect soul still lives on..."

"'One of your bodies'?" Roxas questioned. The others gave equally puzzled expressions.

"Oh yes," the thinner Cassius began. "As you all know, each Immortal has their own unique set of powers. And I have three powers all to myself. The first is my perfect soul, a source of infinite energy dwelling in my being. The second power though... that came to me after my creation. When I was formed, all those years ago, I was just as shocked as you are now, to find three of me." He grinned slightly, as if the reminiscing was a joyous thing for the Immortal leader.

He then continued on. "I had three bodies – containers – each able to house my perfect essence. The Hell, the Heaven, and the Earth. What you see before you now, is what I refer to as Cassius the Heaven. The body you destroyed two days ago was Cassius the Hell, while Cassius the Earth still awaits my soul back on our world...should this body be destroyed." He then chuckled softly to himself.

As the group absorbed the dark truth Cassius the Heaven spoke, another horrifying realization dawned upon Dayne. "Wait..." His skin turned sickly pale, and it was not because of the injuries he had suffered. "That means... No..." He sunk down to his knees, hands holding his head in great despair.

Cassius smiled evilly. "That is correct. Your wife sacrificed herself, thinking that she would be removing me from the game, ensuring your victory. But poor, misguided Marina never knew what I truly was. She jumped into the inferno, not knowing there would be two more demons on the other side.

"Your wife died for nothing!"

Dayne fell to peaces, slumping down to the ground even further, despair etching itself deep into his face, the broken Dayne from two days past being revived right here and now. The others were also feeling this, the revelation hitting them at the same heart-wrenching force. Grief had seized hold of them and paralyzed them for a moment, while Cassius the Heaven gloated with a cold, mocking laugh.

Roxas was the first to snap out of this paralysis, dark fury crossing his face. "Damn it! You're not getting away with this you bastard!"

Keyblades at the ready, Roxas went forward, fully intent on hacking Cassius to bits. But the Immortal leader reacted fast than he ever could. His wings folded together in front of his body, forming a protective shell, and he met Roxas' charge with his own! Oblivion and Sleeping Lion harmlessly bounced off the metallic wings, as the charging Immortal angel shoved Roxas back some more. Suddenly, the wings unfurled themselves, back to erect position, the sudden force of the wings opening proved enough to lift Roxas off of the ground and into the air! The blond boy went flying backwards, tumbling and colliding straight into Namine! What happened next, is a sight that nobody her would ever be able to forget.

The momentum of Roxas was so strong that it lifted Namine up with him, and the two were sent tumbling right over the edge of the floating rock. It happened so fast, nobody could react in time. The two blond Nobodies went right over the edge and fell into the swirling blue maelstrom around them. Then, they were gone.

As if the group wasn't already crestfallen before this event, they fell into complete and utter despair. Cassius laughed even louder, before floating, unseen, back into the black orb. Kairi fell to her knees, tears welling in her eyes at the loss of two more of her friends. Dayne fell to his hands and knees, cursing in an unintelligible manner, and pounding the rock in fury.

Only Sora had the strength to vocalize his emotions

"Roxas! Namine!" He screamed, in futility and despondence, tears welling in his eyes as well. "ROXAS! NAMINE!"

**To Be Continued**

_Man, I am such an asshole..._

Journal Set #13

Ninja

Human-like Nobodies, armed with an infinite set of throwing knives. They rank among the fastest and most agile of all the lesser Nobodies. Larxene once controlled these Nobodies.

**Chapter Preview**

_Angelo (Narrating): Welcome to Ivalice! A world of magick and Gods. And where a turning point point in history is about to begin._

_Riku: I've never seen a place like this before. It seem interesting..._

_Ed: I don't know. Something about this city gives me an unsettling feeling._

_Angelo: It only seems fitting that this journey would cross and align with the evolution of Ivalice itself! The fate of a nation is about to change, as is the fate of one girl..._

_Next Chapter: They look at the stars, and dream of the world beyond. **Genesis of Destiny Chapter 34: The Queen of Thieves.**_

_Riku: Its funny how all these world share the same sky..._

_

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_Please Read & Review_

_SirAngelo_


	34. The Queen of Thieves

_This A/N are going to be really odd and disjointed, so just go with it._

_E3 was last week, and it was a really good show. Nintedo did excellent by showcasing several AAA titles like Goldeneye, Star Fox, Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong Country, Kid Icarus, and a new Golden Sun (you all know I'm gonna be picking that up). Sony did pretty good too, actually managing to score Portal 2 for the PS3, and showcasing that, nearly a decade after its release, the PS2 is still making them millions of dollars. But the most embarassing part of the show, the part that I just laughed myself silly over, was Microsoft's conference and their awful, AWFUL, dreadful, piss poor Kinect device. That things is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen in my life! I mean wow! There is no adjective in my vocabulary that can describe how bad Kinect looks. I am calling it right here, the Kinect is the next Virtual Boy. Anyone who gets that reference, knows the level of crap I'm talking about._

_Also, anyone who knows me knows I am a huge, massive fan of Final Fantasy XII. It was one of my favourite games on the PS2, my favourite Final Fantasy since FF6, and one of my three all around favourite Fantasies, along with 6 and 4. So, I was almost obligated to include Ivalice into this fanfic. And I was very happy to do so, too!_

_Well, this chapter is definitely not actiony. Not at all. But it does introduce two very important and very different characters, sets some things up for the next chapter, and it puts this journey in its last few stages. My goal is to finish GOD and start its sequel by the end of the 2010 calendar year. Here's hoping!_

_Also, I should have noted this a while back, but I made some changes to Chapter 5. Mostly revolving around the names of the parents, and the faces that Sora sees in his dream.  
_

_One last thing to say. I got over 1,000 views for GOD in the month of June so far! I think thats a first for the fic, so I am very happy with this milestone. That, and I passed 100 reviews like two chapters ago. So thank you all! In light of this, I hereby dub my fan-base, the Angeloholics! Can you get enough Angelohol?  
_

_Anyways, I've babbled enough, enjoy the chapter.  
_

Chapter 34: The Queen of Thieves

The mood amongst the party was low, to say the least. Where a few days ago, there were six members aboard the Gummi Ship, now there were only three. And misery decided to join them, too. Misery loves company after all.

After Cassius and Kaiser had left, the void Kaiser had created faded away, returning the heroes to the Pride Lands and their animal forms. Losing Roxas and Namine had proven to be too much, as they were completely exhausted, physically and emotionally. They quickly said halfhearted goodbyes to Simba, and returned to the ship, miserable and defeated once more.

This time though, they found no salvation or catharsis, and had to deal with the day's event on their own, in their own way.

Dayne had made himself scarce, as one was to expect. No one would say he had suffered the most, but he was taking the loss of Roxas and Namine, as well as the fact that Rain's sacrifice was seemingly in vain, very hard. Sora and Kairi rarely saw him, he barely spoke a word to them, didn't train, took his meals in his room, and the two teens could easily hear him from his room every now and then, swearing up a storm, screaming in pain, and punching something with anguished force.

Sora and Kairi tried to make do in a different way. They did spend time together, but it was all forced smiles and long pauses, no happiness. When they weren't together, or the pauses proved too much, they went off and did there own things to cope. Kairi busied herself anyway she could, cooking, cleaning, training, anything to prevent her mind from wandering down that inevitable path.

Sora, meanwhile, would just train. He had never been so focused on training before, heading to the simulator as often as possible, and working until he was exhausted to the point of collapsing. A few hours ago, early in the morning, Kairi had found him, sweating hard, and stumbling back to his room, trying to use the Kingdom Key as a walking stick.

Right now, the two were sitting in the bridge area, waiting to arrive at the next world, Dayne still invisible to the world. As they mulled away in silence, the main view screen flickered to life, the familiar and warming face of Riku appearing on the screen.

"Riku!" Kairi and Sora exclaimed in unison. The white-haired teen smiled back.

"Hey." He replied. "Sorry it took so long to get into contact with you, but this ship Terra gave us is a piece of junk." He looked like he was about to continue on, when he noticed something. "What's wrong?" Riku asked.

Kairi and Sora looked to one another with glum faces. "N-nothing." Kairi lied, weakly.

Riku shook his head. "Come on. All three of us know that you two are terrible liars. So fess up." The two averted their eyes from the screen, drawing a concerned look from Riku. "What happened?" He asked in a troubled tone.

Sora sighed and shook his head. "Where do we begin? It seems the last couple of encounters with the Immortals are nothing but one long nightmare." Kairi place a caring hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, and spoke up.

"We arrived at the Radiant Garden a few days ago," The redhead began. "We were split up, and then ambushed by three Immortals. I fended Kira off," a small, pleasing smile crossed Riku's face. "Rain killed Rosa. But Dayne... he fought against the leader of the Immortals, Cassius. He was completely outmatched, and we were too, when we came to help him." She then closed her eyes and covered her mouth with one of her hands, her entire body sagging down in despair. "So, in order to save us, and kill him... Rain sacrificed herself..."

This took the older Keyblader aback. "You mean... is she...?"

Sora confirmed the dreadful thought. "Yeah she's dead..." The words felt bitter and painful coming out of his mouth. The only person that he had lost completely on all of his journeys was Ansem the Wise. But this was different. He didn't know Ansem too well, and he couldn't do anything to save Ansem. Rain was his friend. Rain died because he wasn't strong enough to beat Cassius on his own.

Riku blinked in disbelief. "Well..." He didn't know where to begin. "I know it's a tough thing to deal with, but you have to-"

Kairi cut in. "That's not the end of it." He voice was choked with emotion. "After the Garden, we traveled to the Pride Lands. And...Kaiser was there and things just spiraled out of control..."

"Roxas and Namine are gone!" Sora blurted out suddenly. He felt equally guilty about this too. Kairi, Roxas, and Namine were all able to best Kaiser, but he was such a weakling, the Immortal had just swatted him away like nothing. He had lost three of his friends, because he wasn't strong enough.

The brunet continued his emotional rant. "Cassius...he has multiple bodies. And, we don't know what happened to them, but Roxas and Namine are gone!" Admitting that, Sora had never felt so powerless in his life.

Riku was stunned once again, even though he didn't know the full story as to why they were "gone". He decided to ask the question on everyone's mind. "Are...are they dead?"

Kairi shook her head. "No." She replied in a blank tone of voice. "We don't know where they are, or what exactly happened to them. But...they're apart of us, right? We would know if they were really gone or not. Right?" She sounded like she was trying to convince herself of it.

"Yeah." Riku reassured. "You two would know." The two nodded slightly, grateful for that little bit of outside reassurance. "So, how's Dayne taking it?"

"I'm worried about him." Kairi said, glumly. Sora looked at her.

"Why do you say that?" He asked. "I mean, I know he's been fairly depressed and reserved, but that's to be expected."

"I noticed something when we were fighting the Nobodies and Kaiser." She countered. "He charged into battles blindly, not caring whether he got hit or not, or if he hit anything. I know he has the healing factor, but... I'm just worried about him."

An awkward silence fell on the three, their conversation stalling. Riku scratched his head uncomfortably. It seems his friends were having a difficult time. He actually did have a reason for contacting them, planning to be sneaky and see if they had made any kind of contact with their Keyblade Spirits, so as to not incur the wrath of Dawn. But they didn't need to deal with anything else at the time.

Luckily, Ed called from off-screen, breaking the silence and giving Riku a reason to leave.

"Hey, Riku! It looks like we're in range of the next world. We better go check it out."

"Be there in a second, Ed!" Riku called back. He then turned to his friends. "I'm sorry I have to cut this short guys. But I promise you this, when we're done with all this craziness, we'll go find Roxas and Namine. Every thing's gonna be alright, okay?"

"Yeah." Sora smiled weakly at his friend. "Take care." Riku nodded and grinned.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." With that, the screen went dead.

* * *

"What do they call this place?" Ed asked, in his normal grumpy tone.

"I believe the world's called 'Ivalice'." Riku replied.

"Well, I don't like it."

"You don't like any world we go to."

"Yeah, well, I especially don't like this place!"

"Why?"

Ivalice had proven to be the largest world the trio had been to yet. Easily the size of a true planet, with multiple continents and nations stretching across its surface. The specific area Riku and the Elrics had landed in was the nation of Dalmasca, specifically its capital, the Royal City of Rabanastre. The large city was very old and ancient, nearly the entirety of the city was made of stone, with large, elegant and ancient buildings lining the streets, tall arches and even taller towers frequently dotting the landscape as well. Palm trees grew tall from pots lining the streets, with many fountains, stores, and vendor stalls filling in the streets as well. The city itself was surrounded on all sides by dry deserts, dusty plains, and wastelands of a varying sort. The sun shone bright (that was becoming a recurrent theme for worlds these three visited), but it was not nearly as hot as Agrabah, even though it was very similar, which was a little unsettling to the crew.

Ed made a wide gesture with his arms, spinning around as he did, drawing the group's attention to the city around them. "Why? Look around! Look at the people here!"

'People' was a very loose term to the multiracial city of Rabanastre. Sure, there were many, many humans, or Humes, walking about, most of which had darker skin and light-coloured hair, and dressed lightly to beat the heat. But, there were also many other humanoid species mingling with the Humes of Rabanastre, which were what Ed was referring to: the scaly, lizard-like Bangaa (though one doesn't call a Bangaa within earshot a lizard), with their long snouts and floppy ears, gigantic, obese Seeqs, which were a pig-like race, the seemingly-all female Viera, who were human-like creatures with rabbit-like features, including long ears, supple limbs, and long, flat-soled feet that required them to wear stiletto heels in order to walk, and the dog-like Nu Mou, with their stout bodies and long faces. Rabanastre even had its own breed of Moogles, which were small, rodent-like humanoids, with rabbit ears, and the trademark Moogle pom-pom extending from their head.

"So." Riku shrugged. "What's the big deal? You know there are more than just humans populating the universe. I could understand if you were a little shocked at first, but... come on Ed! You've been traveling for some time now, just roll with the punches."

"Its just a little jarring is all..." Ed mumbled. In actuality, considering that Ed had seen so many things that went against his view of the world, it was a miracle he wasn't in a coma by this point.

Riku chuckled to himself, before stating, "Jarring as it maybe, let's go and see if any thing's up." He motioned to the Elrics, and they followed him into a throng of people within a bazaar area.

As the group entered the sea of bodies, many people took a look at Alphonse and moved aside, letting the group move unimpeded. Prior to their entry, the bazaar was a hub of activity, with merchants and buyers haggling loudly, but Al's presence mysteriously put a damper on the noise of the market.

"What's up with them?" Ed asked, annoyed at the reaction his brother was getting. When the citizens of Rabanastre looked at Al, some gave him a hateful glare, others looked on, wide-eyed and full of fear. Many chose to ignore Al's presence, quietly minding their own business.

"I am really that scary looking?" Alphonse asked. So far, nobody they had met had been suspicious or fearful of Al's armoured shell, in fact, most people had been impressed by his stature and accompanying strength. "They look like they want to lynch me..."

_SPLAT!_

A piece of rotten fruit flew out of the crowd, and splattered onto Al's torso plate, blowing up into a messy, orange smear. Riku, Ed, Al, and most people in the bazaar looked to who threw the fruit. It was a small boy, dressed in a brown cloak, wearing a colourful theatrical mask.

"Get out of our country you no good Imperial!" The boy shouted. "We don't want you hear! Beat it!" He began to pelt Al with more fruit. A few pieces hit him, but most just splattered at the feet of the heroic trio.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ed spoke up for his timid brother. The cloaked boy balked for a moment, before bolting back into the cover of the crowd. "Hey!" Ed jetted off himself, using his small frame to his advantage, weaving in and out of bodies.

"Brother!" Al called back to his brother. He and Riku were trying to make their way through the crowd too, making decent progress too, do to Al's intimidating presence. "Brother! Come back! Don't worry about this!"

Ed wouldn't have it, his eyes trained on the cloaked youth sprinting ahead of him. Just when it seemed Ed was about to nab his brother's taunter, a group of people came out of a nearby alleyway. Ed couldn't stop in time, as he went charging head on into an armoured individual, knocking him senseless and backwards onto his ass.

"Out of the way, urchin!" One of the figures, who had a thick Scottish accent, shouted gruffly at the downed alchemist.

Ed rubbed his head in pain. "Ah jeez...who's the smartass who got in my way?" Ed looked up to see four soldiers, each fully clad in heavy steel banded armour and a closed helm, with a flat, full-face visor.

"Who you callin' a smartass?" One of the soldiers spat. This one too had a Scottish accent. He glared at Ed through his armour, and Edward glared back. "Little worm..."

The blond-haired teen twitched at his least favourite adjective. "'Little'..." Ed snarled, trying to hold his anger in, as best he could. It was at this time that Riku and Al caught up with the wayward Keyblader.

"Everywhere we go, someone calls him short and he freaks out..." Riku muttered in dismay at the familiar sight of the soon to explode Edward.

"Hey, look at this!" Another soldier pointed out to his group. "The little urchin's got friends. Don't like the look of the big one."

If he could see the soldier's eyes, Alphonse would see them giving him a scrutinizing look. "What do you think you're doin' there pal? Impersonating an Imperial soldier? Making a mockery out of us?"

"W-what?" Al stammered in surprise. "No. No. I... It's just a coincidence is all."

"A coincidence, eh?" The head solider said. He walked up to Al, examining him some more, before shoving him away hard.

"Hey, what's the big deal, buddy?" Riku demanded. The soldier took a swipe at him, but he dodged it expertly.

"Bah! All you Dalmascan rats are the same! We could have wiped you out long ago, but Emperor Gramis had the wisdom and mercy to let you all live on. And this is how you repay us?" The solider lifted his face plate and spat at Riku's feet. "Well I'll tell you this much, you're little friends jape is the last straw! Let's show these worms why you don't insult the Empire!"

His fellows seemed to agree with his sentiments, as all four soldiers drew longswords and bared down on the trio menacingly, backing them into an alleyway with a dead end.

"Couldn't go five minutes without getting us into trouble, could you Ed?" Riku murmured angrily to his ally.

"You saying this is my fault?" Ed shot back.

"Of course I am!" Riku snapped. "Every thing's your fault!"

Ed grunted at the comment. "Be that as it may... Looks like its time for us to muscle are way out of another situation."

At his words, Ed and Riku were just about to summon their Keyblades when several small, black bombs with lit fuses found there way in between Riku's group and he irritated soldiers. Both parties were paralyzed, as the fuses wound down, causing the bombs to exploded in a cloud a thick black smoke.

Everyone was completely blinded, as Riku could hear himself and Ed cough, and Al and the soldiers clatter about in their heavy armour. More figures entered the smoke cloud, their movements cutting their way through the noxious haze. Shouting from the soldiers in their thick accents could be heard, and one loud metallic _thud_. Riku then felt someone rub up against him, seizing his right arm in a half-nelson hold. He struggled, but was soon overwhelmed by even more unseen assailants. He could hear Al rattling around, apparently being mugged as well, and Ed shouting, his voice sounding muffled for some reason.

With his free arm, Riku tried to smack away his invisible foes, or clear up the cloud of smoke, so he could see again, but it was in vain. Two strong hands clutched at his left arm, and a new darkness covered his vision as a damp, dark cloth bag was draped over his head. His arms were then forced behind his back, and bound in rough-feeling rope.

He could feel his body being dragged away from the alley to parts unknown (and assumed the same was happening to the Elrics). The bag over his head filtered out sound and light, but Riku could still make a few things out. He heard metallic clanging, the scraping of his feet being forcibly pulled over the stone streets, various mumblings from his captors, the creaking of something old and rusty, more scraping noises, more mumblings, another creaking sound, and something that sounded like running water.

Then, he was hurled against something cold and hard, his head banging off of the object hard.

He grunted in pain as the cloth was pulled from his head, seeing that Ed and Al had been thrown haphazardly next to him. Riku saw that they were now underground, or at least in some sort of building. Wherever they were, it was partly made out of the same stone as the city itself, but the stones were older, more broken down. Where stone wasn't present, the room was made of grimy tiles on the walls and dingy metal plates on the floor. Standing before the three bound heroes was a small mob of maybe twenty or so kids, all dressed similar to the taunter from before, in brown cloaks and theatrical masks. The age of the vandals varied, some looking to be around nine or ten with others looking like they were in their mid-teens.

They all stood still, watching with unseen eyes. Occasionally, one would speak up, but the masks prevented Riku and the Elrics from telling who said what.

"Who are they?"

"They don't look harmful..."

"Who cares! They just look odd."

"Yeah. And that one sort of looks like an Imperial."

"What do you think we should do?"

"The Queen should be here soon. She'll know what to do."

_The Queen?_ Riku noted mentally. _I don't like the sound of this one bit._

Dawn's voice piped in. _You know, you could just summon me and fight your way outta here._ Riku rolled his eyes. Ever since she revealed her existence as a Keyblade Spirit, Dawn would always refer to Way to the Dawn as 'me'.

_No...I wanna see where this goes before we have to muscle our way out of here._ He could probably easily force his way out of here without problem, this mob of kids didn't look too strong, but he wanted to know what the kidnapping was about. Hopefully, Riku would learn something about this world, too. Judging from the look on Ed's face, and Al's posture, they had a similar idea forming in their heads.

"She's here, guys! She's here!"

One of the vandals shouted in elation, drawing the attention of his fellows. The mob murmured in agreement, and parted instantly, revealing "The Queen". It was impossible to tell if this person actually was a woman, as she was entirely clad in armour. A claptrap assembly of various armour pieces. She wore a way too big chainmail hauberk that descended halfway down her thighs and was clearly too baggy for her frame. She wore a ratty leather belt with a rapier and crossbow strapped to it, and an iron-studded shield was strapped to her back. Burnished gold pauldrons rested on her shoulders, and her head and face were covered by a conical barbute helmet and another theatrical mask. Her lower legs, forearms and upper arms were covered by greaves, vambraces, and rerebraces, respectively, each made of a series of red-enameled steel strips layered over an iron plate. Finally, she wore steel banded boots with a slightly raised square heel, that made a heavy thud every time she took a step.

"So..." She took an appraising look at the captive trio. She was a tall woman, and her current stance and armoured form made her even more intimidating. "These are the so-called Imperials?" She said to one of the masked figures standing next to her.

It was at this point that Ed decided to speak up. "Listen lady, I dunno who these Imperials are, or what they did to you, but we're not them!"

With a flip of her head, the Queen stated simply, "I know." This drew some smatterings of questions from her followers. "Sure, the armoured fellow kind of looks like an Imperial soldier, but the white-haired one looks nothing like an Archadian, and I doubt Grammis would start hiring blonde midgets."

"Midget? Why you little bitch! I oughta-" Before Ed's rant could get off the ground, the Queen kicked Ed in the gut with the toe of her boot, driving all of the wind out of Ed's stomach and causing him to keel over in pain.

"Brother!" Al shouted.

"Hey!" Riku exclaimed. "That wasn't called for."

"He called me a 'bitch'. I think it was." The Queen replied coldly. "And just because you're not Imperials, doesn't mean I trust you entirely." She turned to one of her followers. "Throw them in my private chambers. I want to talk to them alone."

Several of her cloaked followers nodded, and rushed ahead, hoisting up Riku, Edward, and Alphonse and then dragging them across the floor again. They reached a wood and steel door, opened it, and once again, tossed them roughly to the floor of the new room. This new room was made entirely of dark grey stone, and it was much colder. Extravagant pillows were piled at one end of the room, forming a type of seat. It was otherwise modestly furbished, with a few drapes hanging on the walls, and a small table in the corner. Off to another corner, there was a ladder that lead to a trapdoor in the ceiling. The sound of running water was much more clearer and loud in this room.

The door shut behind them, as Riku and the Elrics were left alone with the armoured figure of the so-called "Queen". She looked over her shoulder at the three bound boys, before turning away to the table. She quickly removed her helmet and mask, revealing that she was, in fact, a woman. She was clearly older, in her late teens or a young adult, with olive coloured skin, rich, coffee coloured eyes, and a head full of thick, chestnut brown locks, matted down due to being shoved in a helmet.

The girl then began to wordlessly strip herself of her armour, throwing the shield aside, and doing the same with her sword belt and weapons. She unbuckled her vambraces, rerebraces, greaves, and pauldrons, throwing them into a pile next to the table. She then removed the baggy hauberk, tossing that atop the shield and weapons, leaving her in just her armoured boots and also revealing her normal clothing. She was wearing a simple dark leather halter top, and a pair of short-shorts. Her body was fairly lithe, athletic, and muscular, but not overly bulky. She gracefully walked over to the piled up pillows, plopped down on them, stretched out her long arms and legs, and ran her fingers through her matted down hair.

"Uggh! I hate wearing that stupid helmet..." She said in disgust. She then looked up, to see Riku, Edward, and Alphonse staring at her. Al's face was a blank steel mask, literally and figuratively, Ed glared at her in annoyance, and Riku half-staring, half-looking away in embarrassment, his face red at the sight of the almost-naked, attractive older woman. "What's up with you?" She sneered at Riku, voice laced with cynicism.

"We could ask you the same question." Ed fired back. The girl raised her arms up in mock surrender.

"Okay, okay, easy there tiny," she replied, sarcastically. The vein bulged in Ed's head. "I suppose both sides have questions here. So... what are your names?"

"Edward Elric." Ed said coldly.

"I'm his younger brother, Alphonse." Al greeted. This drew a raised eyebrow from the Queen.

Riku swallowed hard, his eyes half-trained on the long legs of the woman. "Riku. My name is Riku."

"My name is Kalyn Dun-Imnan." She returned cordially enough. She then approached, the group, specifically Alphonse. "Now, if you'll excuse me Alphonse, I want to see what's under that armour of yours."

Al started to shuffle around, trying to back away, which was pointless as he was up against the wall. "W-wait! You don't want to do that!" He stammered. This definitely hadn't been a good day for him. She didn't relent.

"Relax, it's not like you don't have anything I haven't seen before. Besides, I wanna see what you look like. Considering you're his younger brother and about three-times his size." Kalyn reached for Al's helmet, smoothly plucking it off of his shoulders.

She then stared down the empty space that was Al's body.

She quickly recoiled in fright and shock, gracefully throwing Al's head back onto its proper point on the body. "I-I...um...I guess you really aren't an Imperial." She quipped quietly. Apparently, Al did have something Kalyn had never seen before. She quickly recollected herself, and her eyes gained this neutral, inquisitive quality. "Who are you guys?"

"We could ask you the same question," Riku reiterated. He had just recovered from going ga-ga over Kalyn's legs. Kalyn replied with a sly smile

And so the Keyblade-alchemists and the so-called Queen exchanged their own personal stories. Riku and the Elrics gave the quick version of their tales, preferring not to stir up too many bad memories. When it came to Kalyn's tale, they listened raptly to what the older woman had to say.

The Kingdom of Dalmasca happened to be a smaller neutral nation sandwiched in between two warring empires, Archades and Rozarria. In the most recent conflict, two years ago, Dalmasca was conquered by the Archadian Empire and reduced to nothing more than an occupied state. But that was only the beginning of the tragedy for Dalmasca. During the signing of Dalmasca's terms of surrender, King Raminas was murdered by the formerly-loyal knight Basch fon Ronsenberg (Kalyn actually spat just saying his name). Basch apparently killed Raminas for betraying the Dalmascan people by signing the terms, and was soon executed, himself. King Raminas's daughter, Ashelia of Dalmasca, also committed suicide after the death of her father and her newly-wed husband, Lord Rasler. So, for the past two-years, Dalmasca had been nothing more than a province of the Empire, without a monarch or hope, the people left poor and homeless and afraid, terrorized by the occupying forces on almost a daily basis.

As Kalyn finished, her face downcast and dark, Riku nodded slightly and spoke up. "Well, that certainly explains a lot, like why Al was harassed on the streets, but...we still don't know who you are. We know the recent history of Dalmasca, and you know about us, but...who are you Kalyn?"

The darkness in her face and eyes did not waver. "My sister and eye were the daughters of well-off merchants, but...they died. There was a riot when the Imperials first occupied Rabanastre, and my parents were in the wrong place at the wrong time." Her face was stoic and emotionless like stone, but her voice wavered with pain and anger. "The Imperials were mowing down all Dalmascans, whether they be insurgents or not. So, it was just me and my sister. But my sister...my sister was a fool," she shook her heard sadly. "She was a very caring individual and start taking care of all these young children...all those cloaked kids you see there. There was no way she could feed and effectively take care of all of them, I told her that every time I saw her. And one day, around a year ago, she went south into the Giza Plains to get some supplies, and never returned." She ran her head through her matted hair again.

"If you thought your sister was a fool, then why are you taking care of these kids?" Riku questioned.

"I felt guilty." Her voice was quiet and pained. "I felt guilty because the day before she left, we had a really bad fight. I felt like I had to take care of these kids. But...I could never be the matronly, kind figure my sister was. I taught them to survive the way I survived for that year alone."

"How did you do that?" Alphonse asked.

"I became a thief." Kalyn said it as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The three gave her a dubious look. "Oh, don't give me that look. In this world, in this city, you have to do anything to survive." She shot them down with a different dark look, this one frightening and threatening. "We only steal from the Imperials. In fact, as of late, we've been doing more than stealing. Anything we can to harass the Imperials. Using those smoke bombs to ambush them, as you see. Stealing their food and drink so they are underfed. Stealing their equipment so they aren't armed and get further harassed by their superiors. There isn't much of a resistance here in Rabanastre, but this at least does... something."

The self-declared Queen of Lowtown (which was her "full title"). "Anymore questions?" She asked, her tone neutral again. "And you can take off those ropes, by the way. We all know you can easily, now."

Without a second thought, Al easily broke through his ropes, while Riku and Ed summoned Way to the Dawn and Fullmetal Fury and awkwardly cut through their bindings. Kalyn's eyes lit up with curiosity at the sight of the Keyblades.

"So...those are the Keyblades, huh?" She rubbed her chin, her inner thief was coming out in the open. "Interesting..."

"Hands off, thief!" Ed snapped. "You can't just steal these like any old sword. So keep your grubby hands at bay."

Kalyn snorted in distaste. "You're a pithy one, Elric."

"I have a question." Riku broke in. "Where are we? And what's with the sound of running water"

"This is called Lowtown." Kalyn explained. "Its sort of a second city built underneath Rabanastre itself. Since the Imperials occupied the capitol, many people have flocked here, causing the community to grow. Mostly because the grunts don't like to patrol down here." She then got up and strode over to a purple carpet hanging from the wall. "As for the running water..." She removed the carpet to reveal a large hole in the wall, a thin stream of water flowing down from above, and an entire labyrinthine dungeon of waterways sprawling out beyond the wall.

"This is the Garamsythe Waterway," Kalyn explained. "It serves as the sewer systems for the city."

Ed laughed out loud. "You're room is right next to an open sewer? Ha! Do you lack a sense of smell or something?"

Kalyn responded by grabbing her barbute helm and whipping it at Ed. The helm crashed into Ed's forehead, curving away in the air, and knocking Ed down.

_GAH! Why do the worlds hate me so much?_ Ed thought in a pained half-delirium.

"For your information, Fullmetal Dwarf," ever since learning Ed's trigger words, Kalyn had great joy in watching the blond alchemist squirm trying to contain his anger. "I happen to like the sound of running water. Besides," she reached out beyond the hole, cupped her hands, gathering water, and taking a big gulp, "This is waterfall is pure, clean water. So I get the added benefit of never running out of drinking water." She put the carpet back in place and turned around to face the boys.

"Now, if you're all done, I have a question or two for you." Kalyn stated in a commanding voice. Riku had been watching her facial reactions as they told her their tale, and she kept up her commonplace neutrality for the most part, but noted that her eyes lit up when they mentioned the existence of other worlds. "Why are you here on Ivalice?"

The three looked to one another, before silently electing Riku to speak. The white-haired boy stood up and spoke. "We're here because we're on a mission. We're fighting these supernatural beings called Immortals who want to...well we really don't know what they want to do. But they are nothing but bad news. We are also trying to create new Keyblade Masters, which is what happened to Ed when we arrived on Amestris."

Kalyn raised an eyebrow at this, but nothing really came of it. "What do these Immortals look like?" She asked.

"Then tend to look like normal humans, but usually were white with a symbol that looks like a heart split in two." Alphonse offered. "Why? Have you seen anything like that around Rabanastre?" Kalyn shook her head.

"Nope." She stated. She then stood up, but, again, nothing came of it. "Well, I guess I should officially be welcoming you to Rabanastre, but I doubt you'll enjoy your stay." She said with a sarcastic edge. She moved around and started to organize the various piles of armour and weapons she had strewn around the room. "We can offer you shelter tonight, but tomorrow, I want all three of you out of our home."

"You're kicking us out?" Ed hollered in astonishment. "That's a real friendly attitude there."

"Watch it Edward, or I'll melt your limbs into a new sword." Kalyn threatened coldly. "I don't owe you any kind of hospitality, so you should be thankful I'm giving you a day with us." She finally removed the last piece of her armour, her boots, and turned back to the group. "There is a chance that the Imperials might be looking for you, and I doubt that you lot are as good sneaks as we are. You're a liability and the Empire has no qualms of hurting children to get what they want."

Ed grumbled under his breath, but Riku touched his shoulder to signal him to calm down. "It's alright Ed." Riku commented. He faced his companions and said, "After what happened today, we should wait until whatever heat we have cools down. We should also find some way to disguise Alphonse, to avoid a repeat."

"And getting kicked out by these crooks?" Ed pressed.

Riku shrugged. "We need to explore anyways, this gives us a little incentive."

Kalyn chuckled from across the room. "The universe is in good hands with you three on duty." She smiled slightly, the sarcastic edge returning, and turning her slight smile into a biting razor.

* * *

In a rare occurrence, Sora's team also found their way to the next world, the Land of Dragons, the same day Riku's team made first landfall on Ivalice. Only an hour after their conversation with Riku, the ship came within range of the ancient Chinese world, and the now three descended, hoping that this world would go better than their last three.

From the ship's teleporter, the three materialized in a rice paddy on a hill overlooking the Imperial City.

"So, you said you had a friend here, right?" Dayne asked after the teleporter sequence. Their was a gray overcast in the sky, and the temperature was fairly cold. The tall warrior felt sorry for Sora and Kairi.

Sora, having been to this world before, was unfazed by the chill in the air. "Yeah. Fa Mulan." He returned. "Although I don't know where she exactly is, but..." He trailed off and pointed to the nearby city, "That's a good start."

Kairi did not have the same resistance to the cold as her boyfriend, and was visibly shivering, rubbing her arms to raise her body temperature. "It's not much, but at least we have a starting point." The three nodded and set off to the gated city.

As they came closer to the city, the large iron gates opened slowly. Sora and Kairi looked at each other. "Maybe my reputation finally proceeds me?" Sora offered. Kairi shrugged, and the trio kept walking until they were only a few feet away from the gates.

They saw two armoured guards on the other side of the city, holding a person in between them.

One of the guard spoke to the suspended person, as Sora, Kairi, and Dayne drew closer. "This your last warning! Stay out of the Imperial City, foreigner!"

And with that, the guards hurled the person into the air, over the threshold of the gateway, and crashing straight to Dayne's head! The throw actually had enough force to knock Dayne off of his feet and throw him for a loop, while the person just bounced off of Dayne like nothing happened.

"Hey!" Sora yelled at the guards. "What's the big idea?"

The first guard sniffed at the sight. "More foreigners? When are they gonna finish repairing that Great Wall?"

"I happen to know the Emperor, big shot!" Sora replied, indignantly. This drew a guffaw from the guards.

"Yeah! And I'm Sun Tzu!" The guards laughed again, before turning away and shutting the gate.

Meanwhile, Dayne felt like he had been hit in the head by a cannonball. Having experience that firsthand, he also thought he had been hit in the head by a cannonball. _Whoa..._ He thought, stars circling his head (in his mind). _Did anyone happen to catch the colour that ship was flying?_ He shook his head to chase the stars away, and sat up to see Sora and Kairi helping the person who hit him.

"Are you okay, miss?" Kairi asked, because the person was, in fact, a woman.

"Oh, yes." She replied in an oddly cheerful manner. "I'm just lucky that I have such a hard head."

Dayne managed his way to the others. "Don't help me up or anything." He half-joked, half-groaned. "I just got knocked down by human thrown by two other humans. Me. Dayne Rivera." He then glanced at the woman who bowled him over. She was looking at the tall ex-Immortal with wide eyes. "Um...hello?"

"Oh!" She shook her head, and bowed her head slightly. "Hello...I am terribly sorry for what happened." The woman then stood up, dusting herself off, before standing straight, only to bow deeply. "I am Rin Tae Sabian. It is nice to meet you all."

Rin was still young, but she was much older than Sora and Kairi, looking like she was somewhere in her mid-twenties. Although she certainly had an Asiatic look to her on her bright, matronly face, she didn't look distinctly Chinese like the other people on the world. She had thick black hair, tied into a tight bun on the back of her head, with two short bangs hanging from the front of her head. Her eyes were bright green, with an energetic light in them that reminded Sora and Kairi of Selphie or Rikku. She stood a little taller than Kairi, and dressed in a green qipao with a yellow lining and floral design on it, black pants, black slippers, and large violet and white bell sleeves.

"Its nice to meet you Rin," Kairi greeted kindly. "My name is Kairi. And this is Dayne, and Sora."

"Sora?" Rin blinked. She looked at the brunet boy with wide eyes. "The same Sora that helped Fa Mulan save China?" Sora smiled at the comment.

"I guess my reputation has proceeded me..." He then stopped. "Hey wait! 'Help'? I did more than help!"

"Don't get a swelled head, hero." Dayne mumbled in a sideways manner.

Kairi had the courtesy to continue the conversation with Rin. "Rin, why were you just thrown out of the city?"

"Well, it was rather foolish of me..." The woman eluded shyly, rubbing her foot into the ground.

"It had to of been something something large, for those guards to throw you at me like a javelin." Dayne grunted with a roll of his eyes.

Rin blushed and bowed slightly. She seemed to bow a lot. "Again, I am very sorry about that." She apologized needlessly. She then turned slightly away from Dayne and continued on. "I wanted to become a warrior, and was hoping I could meet Fa Mulan in the city so that she could train me, or at least let me be enlisted in the army."

The trio shared glances and a similar thought, that this cordial and gentle woman did not seem like the warrior type.

"I was thrown out after demanding to see her," Rin continued, unabashed in her admission. "It was the second time that has happened." She then smiled again. This person's attitudes were odd to say the least. "But it seems I have made my own fortune, or...collided with fortune seems more appropriate." She spared Dayne a sheepish look. "Sora, you may not be a hero on the calibre of Fa Mulan, but I would like to ask you to train me in the art of combat."

Dubious and uneasy looks appeared on Dayne and Kairi's face. "Okay. I'll do it Rin." Sora declared, almost immediately after Rin's plea.

The uneasiness and dubiousness turned into shock. Dayne was quick to vocalize his feelings. "What!"

Sora cocked his head to the side, motioning to a space away from their current location. "Guys? Do you think we could have a team huddle for a second?" He asked. The two other agreed and they walked to the location Sora hinted at. "We'll be back in one second, okay Rin?" She nodded in reply.

In the huddle, Dayne was the first to speak up. "Training her? Are you joking or something?"

"I agree with Dayne." Said Kairi. "Normally I wouldn't be so harsh, but we don't have time to screw around anymore. The Immortals are making a big push, and we have to push back harder."

"Look, I'm not disagreeing with what you two are saying," Sora began. He had been sitting on this for sometime, and wasn't sure how this revelation would be taken. "But, a while back, on the night Kira attacked you on the Islands, I had a dream. And in that dream, I saw faces of a lot of people that I didn't know. Rin was one of them. But there was also Edward, and Waltz, and Dayne, too! If Ed and Waltz are Keybladers, and Dayne has been with us since the beginning, I think all of those people I saw were also important."

"So your plan is to blindly follow things you saw in a dream?" Dayne dryly quipped.

"My dream has been right three times," Sora countered. "I think it's more than just a coincidence." Sora looked at his companions; Kairi seemed on the fence, but Dayne remained unconvinced. "Look, I'm not asking you two trust my dream, just... trust me. We'll spend a day training her, and if nothing comes of it, we'll move on and find something else to do. Deal?"

After a moment, the trio came to an silent agreement. Sora smiled, and turned around to face Rin. "So, when would you like to start your training?" He asked her, earning a wide smile from the qipao-clad woman.

"Actually, I was wondering if you could evaluate my skills first," requested the young woman, "with practice swords... I know a spot where we can get some easily." Without letting anyone else get a word in, Rin set off down the dirt path and up to the bamboo groves where Sora first arrived on the world. Kairi and Sora ran off to meet her, while Dayne just sighed and shook his head.

With Dayne trailing behind, Sora and Kairi decided to take the time on this short walk to ask Rin a few questions.

"So Rin, why do you want to become a warrior?" Sora asked immediately. "I mean...you don't look like a typical warrior." He then realized what he said. "Oh, sorry."

"No, it's okay," the matronly woman said softly. "I know that you are not from China...it's pretty obvious. I do not know where you come from, but I think you can tell I am not come from China either. We – my mother and I – we come from another world. A world where women have more standing than here." She looked over to the teens, expecting to see a look of shock on their faces that there were other worlds out there. "Hmm? Are you not surprised that I am from another world?"

"Not really." Kairi replied. "We come from other worlds too. In fact, we spend most of our time traveling to other worlds."

"Oh. I see." Rin nodded along, before returning to her tail. "Anyways. My mother and I came from another world where women had more standing, in fact, we commonly produced many strong female warriors. But one day, our world was invaded by demons, ones that were black as jet, with bright yellow eyes."

"The Heartless." Sora stated bitterly. Even though the larger threat of the Heartless had been neutralized, they were still experiencing the legacy of their reign of terror. "Everywhere we go, they cause nothing but chaos."

Rin agreed. "Yes, I have heard them called that before. The Heartless invaded. No one could stand up to them, and soon the entire world turned to darkness. My mother and I woke up some time later, completely alone, and stranded here, in China. That was three months ago." For the first time since showing up, Rin's disposition soured, as she looked down sadly. "My mother recently passed away due to injuries she sustained during the invasion, and her last, dying wish was that I would become a warrior, like so many other women in my family." She sighed in a forlorn manner. "I know it must sound foolish to you..."

"Not at all," Kairi cheered. "I'm a fighter too, Rin. And do you know why I started fighting? Why I started training to be strong?" The redheaded girl looked next to her, to Sora, and smiled softly. "Because of Sora. After I saw Sora risk his life to save me, it inspired me. I promised myself that I would become strong too, that the next time I saw Sora, I could fight alongside him, and I wouldn't have to sit on the sidelines, worrying about him..."

Sora was taken aback. He knew there was some reason as to why Kairi had become so focused on fighting, seeing as how she took no interest in their childish sparring before, but... it was because of him. She wanted to be able to do more than just watch and cheer, she didn't want to worry about him anymore.

"Kairi...I...I'm sorry." It was all he could manage. "I never knew this about you..."

Kairi brushed aside a strand of hair, in that cute, shy manner that Sora loved. "How could I not be scared to death? When I regained my memories of you, I didn't know where you were, or what you were doing, it was a frightening thing. I didn't want that again. I didn't want to feel helpless."

_My god..._ Sora thought dreamily, as they finally reached the bamboo grove. He had a big, goofy plastered over his face. _She's so perfect. I knew she cared about me. But... she's just perfect._

After bringing Sora back to reality, Kairi and Dayne stepped off to the side, to allow Rin to display her skills as a sword fighter. Dayne chopped down two bamboo chutes, trimmed them so that they were around the size of a normal swords, and tossed one to Sora, and one to Rin.

Despite her desire to be trained, Rin was no slouch when it came to fighting. Although she wasn't a master sword fighter like Sora or Dayne, and her moves weren't anything fancy, she was above pedestrian, and it showed that she at least had some kind of formal training. After five or so minutes of chutes clacking together, the two dropped their sparring weapons, and sat down to speak.

"Well Rin," Sora started. He was a little nervous, he had never trained anyone before. "I uh...I don't know how to say this, but...you certainly do have some skills." Sora scratched the back of his head. "I really don't know why you wanted training."

Rin shifted uncomfortably from her kneeling position. "My mother taught me..." she replied softly. "And I want to make her proud...normally her training would be enough, but..." she broke off again, purposely avoiding the others.

"What?" Dayne asked. "Is it the sexism on this world?"

"No. I...I just cannot bring myself to kill anything!" Rin cried out. "Whether it's a person or an animal, I could never bring myself to kill it. Thankfully I'm a vegetarian, but anyways, even if it the army allowed women to join, they would never except a coward like me." She looked directly at Sora, her normally bright eyes filled with a small amount of hurt. "That's why I wanted Mulan...or Sora, to train me. I need to be able to..." she shuddered slightly, "kill.."

Sora shook his head sadly, scratching slightly. "I don't think I can help you there," he admitted, sadly. "Most of the beings I fight aren't even technically alive." Although several of Maleficent's allies were living beings, killing them was almost a second instinct to him. He didn't think about it (and didn't like to, afterwards). They were people who had fallen into the darkness, beings who threatened himself and his friends. He had to kill, he never thought about the ramifications and psychological effects. of actually killing them.

"I'm sorry Rin." Sora repeated. He then turned to Dayne. "Dayne? Do you think you can help her?"

The warrior with silver-blue hair shook his head as well. "I'm sorry Rin. But you can't teach someone how to kill. Either you are born a killer, you work up the nerve to kill, or you find a reason to kill. It is not a skill that can be taught."

"It is alright..." she replied softly, giving an odd look to Dayne. He didn't like it. "It does not matter anyways, if I can kill or not. I would not be allowed to join the army either way. I'll never live up to my mother's wishes."

Dayne looked at her and spoke up. "You know, you talked about you're mother's last wish. What she wanted for you. But what do you want for yourself?" He gave her a hard stare, while Rin just looked at him with those big, bright eyes. _Unsettling look much..._ Dayne thought.

"I don't know what I want." Rin finally responded. "I don't know what is wrong with me... I should have figured something to do with my life right now, but all I have is to follow my mother's wishes for now, hoping I will find my destiny."

"Destiny is not found." Dayne announced. "You make your own destiny."

"I told you that I heard voiced girl! Believe me now!"

A new voice rang into the bamboo grove. It kind of sounded familiar to Sora, but he had no time to react. Dayne quickly stood up, gripping the hilt of his blade, eying the area the voice came from.

Another voice responded to the first one, this one clearly female where the first was male. "You might want to keep it down. What if they are enemies? What if they see you?" Whoever they were, the two were drawing nearer.

"What if they are? What if they do? Then they'll have to face the roughest, toughest girl in all o' China, babygirl! I'm talkin' 'bout-"

The speakers finally entered the clearing. Sora recognized them immediately. "Mulan!" He exclaimed. The young, female hero of China was indeed one of the speakers, still wearing the same gi from several months ago. Her family guardian (and the other speaker), the small red dragon Mushu, sat on her shoulder.

"Sora?" Mulan blinked, before smiling at the sight of her returning friend. "Its good to see you again." She then looked over to see his companions. "No Donald or Goofy?"

"Not this time. Allow me to introduce my girlfriend Kairi," the redhead blushed slightly and nodded. "A new friend of ours, Dayne," The tall warrior eased up on his grip, giving a neutral stance to the new people. "And this is a girl from a village around here. Her name is Rin."

Instantly, Rin stood up, bowing deeply in Mulan's direction. "It is an honour to finally meet you, Fa Mulan." She fawned over her idol, even going so far as to actually approach her and shake her hand wildly.

Mulan look uncomfortable at the praise being heaped on her. "Uh... D-don't mention it. I don't need any special treatment."

"But you do!" Rin gushed. "Such an upstanding warrior such as yourself, you deserve all of that and more!" She then started to babble. "For the past week I have been looking for you, wondering if you could train me. I asked Sora to train me, and he may be strong, but he is no hero of China! So, I guess you could say, I am asking you right now if you could train me."

While Rin was having a "fangasm", Dayne peered over, looking at Mushu on Mulan's shoulder. "Who's the lizard?" He asked in a rude way.

Calling Mushu a lizard was not a smart idea. In that respect, Mushu was very similar to a Bangaa... "Hey! Who you callin' a lizard!" The guardian shouted back, in his normal, indignant reaction. "I ain't no lizard, okay! I'm a dragon, and a family guardian, and a heck of a good one at that!"

Dayne snorted. "You're a pretty sad looking dragon, if you asked me."

"Well no one did ask you, Goliath!" Mushu shot back.

"Careful there, salamander..." Dayne warned, and evil glint in his eyes. "Don't think I'm above eating you, just because you're a dragon."

"Really?" Sora question in surprise. "Really? You're gonna try and eat him!"

"It's just a threat."

"But still? Threatening to eat him?" Sora still sounded incredulous. "You can do better, Dayne."

Dayne was about to fire another come back, when Mulan broke in, Rin standing by, trying to contain herself. "Sora!" The attention of Sora, Dayne, and Mushu was caught. "I'm actually very glad I ran into you."

"Really?" Sora looked puzzled. He typically was a walking disaster magnet.

"Yes." Mulan replied. "Shang, er... Captain Shang, he has assigned us a mission. Apparently, one of our boarder patrols spotted a man in a black cloak along the Tseng-Shao pass." Sora and Kairi stepped back in surprise. "From what I've heard, it seems he was wearing a cloak similar to the others that appeared here a few months ago."

"The Organization...?" Sora said, bewildered and lost. Kairi had the same look on her face.

"It couldn't be." Kairi spoke to Sora, trying to reassure both their doubts. "Could it?"

"There's only one way to find out." Dayne declared. "Where is this pass?"

"Its up in the mountains, to the north of the Imperial City." Sora explained. "We're with you all the way, Mulan!"

Rin let her intentions be known "I want to come too!" She said, in her most boisterous voice yet. She then shrunk down, and followed up more timidly. "I mean, if Sora and Fa Mulan will have me."

"Of course." Sora said. "Should we leave now?" The others agreed with him, and they hurried off out of the grove, heading towards the mountains, and an apparent remnant of the Organization.

* * *

But, unbeknown to Sora, Kairi, and the rest, high above their heads, two opaque eyes peered down on the Keybladers and their allies. Watching, studying, listening in fact. These fiendish, robotic eyes belonged to the Immortal, Tallgeese. Ever since his embarrassing defeat back on Twilight Town, the cyborg scientist had developed a kind of obsession with the heroes, watching them constantly, through either his own eyes, or through inventions of his. He was a scientist, research was what he did.

Currently, his interest was piqued when he heard the Chinese girl speak of a being wearing the Organization's trademark black cloak. "Ah..." He said to himself. "An unknown wrapped in blackness? Information that I do not possess?" He grinned cruelly. "Not for long! It seems coming to this world personally is already paying off in spades. Now I have two missions to invest my time and energy. To end the limited existence of those simpering heroes, and to puzzle out the enigma of this not-a-Nobody."

With a flourish of his hands, his wings unfolded out from underneath his cloak, as he jetted off at the supersonic speeds to the mountain range.

* * *

Night had fallen on Rabanastre, and, as promise, Riku, Edward, and Alphonse had been given housing for the evening, Kalyn letting them stay in her own quarters. It was around the middle of the night, when Riku stirred awake. He felt a gust of cold air against his skin, seeing moonlight filtering down from the sky onto the cold, dark stones. Once the grogginess faded from his eyes, he noticed that Kalyn was gone, and the trapdoor above them was now open. Taking care not to wake Ed, or to draw Al's attention, he carefully crept over to the ladder, and climbed up it as quietly as he could to investigate.

The ladder took him to the surface level of Rabanastre, somewhere in the bazaar, which was now closed off and wholly abandoned at people. All the shops were boarded up and closed. The entire street was dead. Directly ahead of where the trapdoor let out, was another ladder, which lead to the rooftop of a squat building. He climbed that ladder too.

Atop the building, he found Kalyn. The thief was sitting on the opposite edge of the building, her knees tucked up to her chest, a cloak draped over her body to protect from the cold desert nights.

Riku slowly approached her. "Kalyn?" He stated quietly, causing the girl to jump a little. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No." Kalyn interrupted. "Its my fault. I should have closed the trapdoor behind me, so you wouldn't have woken up." Riku nodded slowly, approaching the sitting girl.

"What are you doing up here?" He asked.

"I like to come up here sometimes." Her voice was quiet, but seemed to have less of her dry cynicism, and more of a introverted quietness. "Looking at the stars." Riku sat next to her, legs dangling over the edge. "So..." She pointed up to the star-filled sky. "There are other worlds out there?"

"Yep. Dozens, and dozens, probably hundreds of worlds. Each one different in its own regard." This was eerily familiar to the white-haired teen. He used to watch to the stars on clear evenings like this too. With Kairi and Sora.

"I wish I could go and see them." Kalyn replied softly. Almost in a depressed manner. "Even just one of them." Riku nodded, knowing the feeling. Kalyn looked down from the sky, pursing her lips together. The bazaar became dead once again.

"Riku, I want you to take me with you!"

The admission came on so sudden, and it seemed so emotional, complete at odds with what Riku had seen from Kalyn.

"Wh-what?" Was all the warrior of Dawn could manage.

"Take me with you!" She repeated. "When you're finished here, when you leave Ivalice, please take me with you!"

"I can't Kalyn." Riku said. "There are rules for interacting with worlds. I'm sort of breaking them by telling you who I am and where I am from."

The Dalmascan girl did not relent. "Then make me a Keyblader! You can take them with you! Make me one, like Ed!"

"I don't have any control over who becomes a Keyblade Master. It just...happens." The desperation within Kalyn blazed once more, before being snuffed out, the brunette hanging her head in dismay. "Why do you want to leave so bad anyways? Those kids depend on you, and what about this guerilla war you're waging with the Empire?"

Kalyn shook her head bitterly. "It's not a war." She griped. "It's nothing... We're a bunch of kids playing war. Trying to win a fight we lost two years ago."

"But...you're giving hope to the kids." Riku brought up. "Isn't that important?"

"Ha!" Kalyn laughed bitterly. "Let me tell you something about hope. Hope can be very powerful, lifting a being to heights higher than they could ever achieve on their own. But I'm instilling false hope. And false hope is nothing. Hope fills someone with light. False hope fills you with an emptiness, that will only succeed in causing them to crumble in on themselves, a great downfall."

Riku smirked to himself. "You sound like you know the nature of a man."

Kalyn rested her chin on her knees. "I only know the darkness of a man. The hatred, the rage, the greed, the desire to destroy, the need for vengeance." She sighed. "Dalmasca is steeped in this darkness. And it is doomed. My dream of freeing Dalmasca is utterly hopeless. We have no army, no formal resistance, no monarch. Our independence will be nothing more but a footnote in the annals of history." Riku began to chuckle softly. "You think this is humourous?" She balked.

"No." He replied. "Just...you think you know about the darkness? I've seen the real heart of darkness. I've been engulfed by it, enslaved, and I won my freedom. If someone like me can do it, then there is still hope for you...and Dalmasca."

"The heart of darkness you've seen, and the darkness in the heart of man are two different things." Kalyn stated after a time. "The hearts of the Imperials are cruel, ruthless, full of hate and greed. The hearts of us Dalmascans are weak, lost, full of emptiness. I mean, just listen to me! Listen to this defeatist babble that I speak!" She turned her hands into fists, the knuckles going white. "Damn it! I could have escaped this! I was going to flee to Balfonheim! But no... I had to be the good sister and pick up Mirelo's work!" Riku assumed Mirelo was Kalyn's late sister. "Now, if I leave, I'll be abandoning a bunch of helpless kids! I don't want that, but I don't wan this...

"I just...I just wanna be free..."

"That's the funny thing about ambitions and dreams." Riku mused, almost as if he was thinking aloud. "You have to put your heart into them, but you can't throw every thing you have at them, or else you end up hurting those around you. That happened to me. I would do anything to get off of the Islands, find new worlds. I nearly killed my best friends, and almost died myself.

"But...at the same time, you can never know how things will work out. Unlikely as it was, me and my friend survived our ordeal. We've seen things we should never have seen, and we're stronger than we could ever hope to be. I guess, when you throw your heart into a dream, it's all about having faith in yourself, and in everyone around you. You may make mistakes, you may get hurt, but as long as you learn a lesson from those wounds, and as long as you're faith stays strong, you can achieve anything.

For a brief moment, their was a great silence, and Riku thought he had gotten through to Kalyn. Then, the girl snickered. "That was beautiful." She said in her sarcastic tone. "Are you some sort of warrior poet?"

"I'm being serious." Riku replied. "I mean...let's just say you leave tomorrow. You leave Rabanastre without a word to anyone, and don't look back, what would happen? You say that those kids would be helpless without you, but you've taught them some valuable skills over the past year, I bet they could function fine without you. You just need a little faith."

"I could have my freedom..." Kalyn whispered to herself. She then shook her head, her brown locks flying wildly in the moonlight. "Could we stop talking about all of this, and just look at the stars? Just for a little while longer?"

"Sure." Riku whispered, and the two spent the next few hours staring at the clear night sky, looking up at the great sea of stars and the many worlds nestled with in it.

Riku could never explain why he had started talking to Kalyn like that. About things like freedom, dreams, and faith in others. Maybe he saw a little bit of himself in her. But, when he first met her, he felt a certain pull towards her, like his very soul was being drawn to her soul, like two magnets. It sort of reminded him of his childhood, when it was just him and Kairi.

* * *

"That's right ladies, step lively now. We want to get out of here as quickly and safely as possible."

Terra marched Alice, Snow White, and Cinderella, the three captive Princesses of Hearts, out of the Castle That Never Was, and into a glowing gold portal that led to his ship, _The Ark_. Taking up the rear, were his companions, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Mickey Mouse. The foursome had infiltrated the former stronghold of the Organization while Maleficent was out, waded through countless amounts of Heartless, and outsmarting Pete, they had reached the cells where the three maidens were held hostage, freed them, and made the harrowing run back to _The Ark._

As the three former hostages made there way to the ship, Terra and the trio from Disney hung around the dark corridor for a moment longer.

"Good job everyone." Terra congratulated. "This mission is almost at an end."

"Mission?" Donald repeated in his garbled voice. "You mean our group's mission?"

Terra shook his head 'no'. "This battle against the Immortals as a whole."

"How do you know that, Terra?" Goofy asked.

Donald nodded. "Yeah, can you see into the future?"

"I can't personally," Terra admitted. "But, I do have contacts who tell me things." The Royal Knight and Court Wizard looked stunned, leaving Terra to scratch his head. "Don't get any ideas. I only have information up to the end of the Immortal conflict."

"Well then, what happens?" Donald questioned. Terra shook his head again.

"Sorry, that is on a need to know basis. And you don't need to know, my friend."

"WAAK!"

"Screech all you like, I am not talking," Terra said, "but trust me, things work out for the best."

"Um...Terra?" Goofy piped in. "I have a question. What was that Heartless you and the King fought?"

Along the way to the Princess's cell, the group had encountered one of the rare Hollow Heartless. Although both Terra and Mickey had defeated the monstrous being, it was the first encounter the three Disney warriors had with Hollow Heartless.

"It is a special breed of Heartless called Hollow Heartless." Terra exposited. "Named as such, because they resemble demons on a world called Karakura Town called Hollows."

Donald spoke up. "So... are these the Heartless of those demons?"

"No." Terra replied. "They are only called Hollow Heartless because of the resemblance. These Heartless, are just regular Heartless infected with a very special, powerful, and malign strain of darkness. It causes the Heartless's physiology to mutate and they become much more powerful. Fortunately, the process is not perfected, so these Hollow Heartless are rejects, and it even takes them a long time to create them.

"'They'?" Donald repeated. "Do you mean Maleficent?"

"No. Her benefactors."

"Benefactors?" Goofy said, a little startled. "You mean there are people more powerful than Maleficent?"

"Much more powerful Goofy," Mickey spoke up. "I encountered a few of them years ago, and they probably have gotten even stronger."

Terra nodded grimly "Thats right. And they will be on our doorsteps soon. The Immortals and Maleficent are only the tip of the iceberg. This is like...combat training for an actual war."

"Well, we sure haven't seen much combat." Commented Donald. Terra smiled thinly.

"Oh, this isn't our training. This is training for Sora and the other Keyblade Masters. Not to say that we aren't important, but a great evil is coming. Darkness. Chaos. And this is the purpose of all Keybladers. To keep the evil at bay, and to keep the universe in balance. Now come on. We have to go and return the Princesses to their worlds.

**To Be Continued**

_Do not worry. Actual Final Fantasy XII characters will appear in the next chapter. Who will it be? Vaan? Fran? Vayne? Migelo? Gilgamesh? With this crazy Canuck at the helm (points to me) no one knows. Not even me!_

**Chapter Preview**

_Sora: We're taking our last steps towards the beginning of the end._

_Kairi: Everything is slowly falling into place. Aligning itself._

_Riku: There are still many questions to be answered. But at least we are getting somewhere._

_Angelo: And although wicked forces stand in their way._

_Sora: Tallgeese._

_Riku: Vaniele._

_Kairi: You unknown phantom._

_Angelo: They will not back down. They will fight, they will be strong, and they will achieve greatness!_

_Next Chapter: **Genesis of Destiny Chapter 35: The Last Keybladers**._

_Sora: Alright! It's time to finish this!_

_

* * *

__Pleas__e Review_

_SirAngelo  
_


	35. The Last Keybladers

_Right, so I know this chapter is late. Just...I dunno. Something came up in my personal life, and I have no idea why, but this chapter was just hard for me to right. So, I'm sorry it's late, but please, enjoy it now._

_Also, before the chapter begins, I found a few KH facts online that I thought were interesting:_

_First, I saw like the crackiest pairing ever the other day. Namitas. Namine + Vanitas. Just...what?_

_Also, I found out that both Zexion's VA (Vincent Corazza) and Larxene's VA (Shanelle Gray) have some odd roles on their resumes. Miss Gray voice Wendy in the Wendy's fast food adds (I will never look at that place the same way again), while Mr. Corazza voiced Tuxedo Mask in the english dub of Sailor Moon. This series gets weirder by the second._

_Finally, whether this is true or not can be disputed, but I read a report online that SE wanted to produce a Kingdom Hearts anime. But Disney, since they own the entirety of Kingdom Hearts, original things included, told SE up front, if there was to be an animated KH series, they would animate it themselves. So, no KH anime produced by Square, and (probably) animated by BONES._

_I think I speak for a lot of people when I say: that blows. Big time.  
_

Chapter 35: The Last Keybladers

The next day came to Ivalice, with Ed, Al, and Riku still within Kalyn's chambers. Oddly enough, the girl was nowhere to be found when the three woke. After their little talk last night, Riku and Kalyn sat in silence for an hour or so, before they decided they should get some sleep, and they descended down back into the shadow city of Lowtown. Fortunately, neither Ed nor Al noticed their absence, and they could pretend like nothing happened.

And nothing did happen! Right? Sure, Riku could admit that Kalyn was a very attractive woman, even if she was a bit rough around the edges. Kind of snide. Cold, in a way. And even Riku, loveless loser that he is, could also admit he felt a bit of a spark between himself and Kalyn. But it wasn't _that_ kind of a spark. Far from it, he told himself all night. It was just a part of him reacting to someone who had the same dreams and desires that he had when he was younger.

Even several hours removed from that weird twinge in his heart, Riku was still trying to convince himself it was nothing. _It's just a shallow, physical attraction._ He told himself. The door leading to the rest of this hidden base was locked, leaving the heroic trio to stew inside for the time being._ She has a nice body, and shows it off. Nice long, toned legs, rich, deep eyes..._ The white haired boy cringed, catching himself. _Okay, stop! This is not me. I'm not a romantic. For god's sake, I'm not Sora!_

Like a finely tuned machine, Dawn's voice ringed in his mind. _That you are not!_ The Spirit chirped. Every opportunity she got, she would throw her two cents in. _Besides, the girl dresses like a hooker..._

_If I didn't know any better Dawn, I would say you're jealous of her._

_Jealous? Me?_ She sounded insulted_. __Why would I be jealous of the Queen of Tramps?_

_Well, you sound jealous._ Riku noted. Dawn huffed loudly.

_It makes no difference whether I am or not! After today, she'll be out of our lives for good._

"Hey. Riku!" Ed snapped his fingers in front of Riku's face. "Earth to Riku." The Warrior of Dawn broke his concentration, returning to the real world. "You were going all spacey on us."

"Sorry." He apologized. "I was just thinking about something."

"Was it Kalyn?" Al asked. As if on instinct, Riku's face reddened instantly.

"What? No. No. Just...what are we going to do today?"

"Yeah right," Ed snorted in a disbelieving tone. "Anyone could see you were making eyes at her all of yesterday."

Riku shrugged, trying to play it off. "Well, you have to admit, she is kind of attractive."

Ed blew a raspberry. "I couldn't pass her bitchy attitude to see whatever it is you're seeing."

Just then, the lock on the door _clacked_ open. It swung open, revealing Kalyn. "Be careful what you say, Elric." She warned. Today, the Dalmascan girl had done away with her hauberk and helmet, instead wearing a light blue leather vest, lined with ringmail on the insides. She also wore something akin to bicycle shorts that ended just above her knees. Kalyn still wore her greaves, vambraces, rerebraces and boots, and was armed with her rapier, crossbow and shield. "The walls here possess ears."

The off-worlders then noticed that Kalyn was accompanied by two people, both of which looked too old to be apart of her normal cadre of orphans. One was a male Hume, the other was a female Viera.

"What's this?" The Hume mused. "Might these be suitors for the for our self-crowned Queen of Lowtown?" He was a tall man, with slick, short dark blonde hair. He wore an embroidered golden vest over a white, high-collared shirt, tight leather pants, shin pads, and open-backed steel sandals. He carried himself with a mixed air of dignity and arrogance, and had a narrow, sharp, and shrewd face.

The Viera sniffed the air. "They look strange. And smell equally odd." She declared in a voice thick with an odd accent. The Viera stood even taller than the man beside her. She had dark skin, red eyes, and long, thick white hair. She had the lapine features of all Viera, with two rabbit ears poking out from her dark metal helmet. Her manner of dress was... exotic seemed the most appropriate word. Her entire outfit was crafted of a dark metal, but it only covered a minimal amount of her body; shins, thighs, waist, ribs, breasts, and arms. The rest of her body was exposed. She also wore black stiletto heels, that were another trademark of her race.

Ed glared at her after the comment. "Who are you calling strange?"

"Easy kid," Kalyn chided sardonically. "Fran just follows her sharp intuition. Which is usually right." She smiled wickedly at the joke. "Anyways, this is Balthier," she motioned to the man, "and his partner, Fran," she motioned to the Viera woman. "They are Sky Pirates, and happen to be my mentors in the art of thievery, two years ago."

"Sky Pirates?" Riku asked quizzically.

"Adventurers and bandits who travel around Ivalice in airships." Kalyn explained quickly.

"We happen to fall into both categories." Balthier quipped.

The Rabanastre thief continued the introductions. "Balthier, Fran, this is Edward, Alphonse, and Riku. They are...from outside Dalmasca, visiting the city, and ended up getting mixed up in one of our operations the other day."

"They do not look like they even come from Ivalice." Came Fran, in an inquisitive manner. She turned to the trio. "Where do you hail from, boys?"

Since none of the three knew anything about Ivalician history or geography, they had no idea what to say. After an awkward amount of stalling, Kalyn jumped in and saved them.

"It doesn't matter where they come from." She said hastily. "Their just a bunch of kids that got taken here by mistake, and will soon be out, back on the streets." Both Balthier and Fran gave Kalyn, the Keyblader, and the alchemist brothers shrewd looks, but nothing really came of it.

"Interesting," Balthier said, not completely convinced, it seemed. He then faced Kalyn. "I think it is about time we take our leave. Mooring too long in Rabanastre can be hazardous to his health. Farewell, Kalyn."

The three Ivalicians shared nods, before Balthier and Fran left as quickly as they came.

"What were they here for?" Alphonse asked, after they had left.

"Archades is appointing a new Lord Consul sometime next week," Kalyn began. "And they are planning on throwing a fete for him. They were here to..."scout the accommodations", as Balthier put it. And to prime me for information, seeing as how they haven't been in the city in almost a year." Almost immediately, the abruptly added, "So, when are you three leaving?"

"Why are you so eager to get rid of us?" Riku argued.

She frowned at him. "I think I explained it well enough yesterday."

Riku was about to say something, but Ed cut him off. "Enough Riku." The diminutive Keyblader said. "She doesn't want us here, and I really don't want to be here either. I'm sick of being crammed in such a small space." He groaned bitterly. Kalyn crossed her arms in a satisfied manner. The Queen had gotten her way.

Then, a crazy idea entered Riku's head. "What are you going to do?" He asked the brunette thief.

"What's it to you?" She sneered in counter.

A sneaky smile appeared on the Keyblader's face. "Well, remember what we talked about last night?" He questioned slyly. A look crossed Kalyn's face, a look somewhere between annoyance and worry.

"Last night?" Alphonse repeated. "What happened last night?" His older brother shrugged.

"I dunno." Ed said. "I was asleep the entire time." Fullmetal then eyed the two older teens with his suspicious eyes. "What happened between you two?"

"Nothing happened!" Kalyn snapped. She then turned to Riku. "You're walking on dangerous ground kid."

Something in Riku made him press on. "Come on. Don't deny it. All you did last night was talk about how you hated the life you were in. You wanted freedom. So I'm curious. Was that just talk? Or are you really going to do what you want to with your life?"

Kalyn's hand palmed at the hilt of her rapier. "What I do with my life is my business!" Even with her threatening tone and stance, Riku didn't back down, so Kalyn turned away and left through the door. "All three of you, leave. Now!"

Ed and Al looked at Riku, before the three followed out of the door. "What the hell was that about?" Ed asked Riku.

"None of your concern." The group entered the main portion of the hideout, Riku following Kalyn, and Ed and Al following Riku. "Come on!" Riku continued, Kalyn ignoring him. The various orphans were watching the spat with confusion. "You poured your soul out last night. You can't just ignore that."

It looked like the young woman was going to keep walking, but she stopped dead in her tracks. The air in front of her was rippling, like a heat mirage. From the rippling came the cold, malicious form of Vaniele Trinity.

"You should be more concerned about your own soul, than hers." Vaniele threatened with a cruel and terrible glower on her face.

The Ivalicians were paralyzed by the sudden appearance of the Immortals, Kalyn included. Riku just stared the remaining Trinity Sibling down.

"What are you here for, Vaniele?" Riku asked, Way to the Dawn appearing in his hand. "To avenge the brother I struck down?"

Vaniele barked in laughter. "Hardly. If I were any other kind of person, I would thank you for eliminating that annoyance I called brother from existence." Twin bowie knives appeared in her hands. "No. Recently, your Dawn powers have been judged a major threat to our goal. So I am here to eliminate you."

"Bring it!" Riku called.

Lightning-quick, Vaniele vaulted over the frozen Kalyn and dashed at Riku. The silver-haired teen was just as fast, meeting the Immortal and blocking her first slash. She followed up, but he dodged, and rolled away as Edward joined the fray. Fullmetal Fury cut through the air, narrowly missing Vaniele's head. The female Immortal had ducked the slash, following that up with a kick to Ed's stomach, before going after Riku once more.

As this was going on, Kalyn finally managed to regain her composure. "Scatter!" She yelled, ordered, to those around her. Her battalion of thieves sprung into action, obeying their Queen, and scurried away through various entrances.

Vaniele was twirling her knives around, the blades flashing through the air, as the bounced and sparked off of Al's armoured arms. Not getting anywhere, Vaniele maneuvered around the lumbering suit of armour, now behind his back, and once more going after Riku. Riku went for a downward slash with Way to the Dawn, but it was blocked by a sweeping kick. The last Trinity Sibling lunged at Riku with both of her knives. The Keyblade Master narrowly avoided getting nicked by the weapons, his head weaving left and right to avoid the strikes. Vaniele then went for a inward scissoring cut, but Riku dodged it by ducking quickly. He went for a thrust to Vaniele's gut, but his foe simply sidestepped the Keyblade. It looked like she was going to bring her bowie knives down on the crouching Riku, but she never got that opportunity. A _twang_ rang through the air, and something burrowed itself in between Vaniele's shoulder blades. Kalyn was still in the room, having fired a crossbow quarrel right at the Immortal. The pain stunned her just long enough for Riku to elbow Vaniele in the face, and then a downward slash along her stomach.

"You three, with me. Now!" Kalyn barked at the three other-worldly warriors. She then bowled herself into Vaniele, knocking her down and causing her to bounce against a wall, hard. Kalyn ran back into her own quarters, the others following.

"What are we going to do in here?" Ed asked, as Kalyn shut the door, hoping to buy them more time. "We're completely trapped!"

"How soon you forget." Kalyn went over to a carpet hanging from the wall and pulled it down, revealing her secret entrance to the Garamsythe Waterway! "Hurry. We don't have a lot of time. There's an entrance to the surface not too far from here." With that, Kalyn jumped through the entrance, pass the waterfall, and into the sewers below.

With the only other option to fight Vaniele in this cramped area, Alphonse, Edward, and Riku took the plunge, diving over the edge and into the water below.

The jump wasn't too high, and they ended up landing in ankle deep waters (knee deep for Ed), which was a little jarring. Al took special care to avoid getting his blood seal wet. After a few moments of gaining their ground, they saw Kalyn slogging her way through the sewers, towards a large set of stone stairs.

The boys went to follow, but quick trek was halted when Vaniele reappeared, shooting through the hole in Kalyn's quarters, wings deployed, and diving down onto the party. She was specifically aiming for Riku, who rolled away to avoid being clipped. The female Immortal turned around, skimming above the water and charging for Riku again. This time, they clashed, Keyblade striking with and against the twin knives.

Vaniele continued to strafe and dodge around Riku nimbly, keeping the Elrics at bay, while repeatedly striking at Riku, knives grinding against the wing of Way to the Dawn. Vaniele proved way too quick and agile for any of the three heroes to damage her, and her fighting style of rapid thrusts and lightning-fast slices kept her opponent's continually on the defensive. Kalyn fired another shot from her crossbow from atop the stairs, but the sailing projectile was easily slashed to bits by Vaniele.

Several thrusts and wicked fast cuts came from the Immortal, but were all quickly blocked by Riku. The combos were slowly pushing Riku backwards through the scummy waters, and Vaniele was always quick to keep Alphonse and Edward away from her and her prey. Wings unfolded, Vaniele easily jumped over Riku, tumbling behind him and continuing the attack. Every few seconds, she would zip away from Riku, either repositioning her attack or knocking the Elrics back.

The speed and ferocity of the attacks made this a maddening experience.

Checking over his shoulder to the stairway, Ed saw that Kalyn had already abandoned them. _Damn thief, can't trust a single one of them!_ The aerial Immortal was slowly overwhelming them. She was fast as a flash, able to dodge attacks with ease and able to rain down a flurry of precise attacks. It also didn't help that the water they stood in made it more difficult to move in.

An idea formed in Ed's head in that instance.

"Riku! Move away from her, quickly!" Riku responded to the command instantly, kicking Vaniele in the face before using the Dawn Skates to slide across the water's surface. Ed followed up by stabbing Fullmetal Fury into the water, a red array appearing under Vaniele. In a great eruption, the water was instantly boiled, shooting up in a cloud of superheated steam.

"GYAAHHH!" The scalding mist was hot enough to even burn Vaniele's skin, causing the Immortal to writhe in pain, pausing and staggering blindly and erratically.

With the distraction, the three teenage boys headed for the stairs where Kalyn disappeared, traversing them as fast as their legs could carry them, and passing through a metal gate to arrive on the sun-drenched surface of Rabanastre.

"Took you three long enough." Kalyn's voice rang out. The girl in particular was standing off to the side of the entrance to the Waterway, looking apprehensive, as she was cloaked by the shadows.

"You know, you could have done more than just abandon us entirely." Ed snapped. Kalyn blew him off with a dismissive gesture.

"I don't remember ever being appointed your caretaker." She then approached the three, the small group of four walked briskly through the streets of Rabanastre, most people not knowing Kalyn was a wanted criminal. "Now do you see why I want you three gone? I imagine that having a psychopath descend upon you is a regular occurrence?"

Riku ignored the question. "We'll get out of your hair soon enough, but why did you stay and help us? You could have scattered with the rest of your crew and left us to our own devices."

Kalyn gritted her teeth in response. "You can't take a hint, can you?" She growled lowly.

"You know, you can just let us run free now." Ed said impatiently. "Not that you have any problem with that, as we've already seen."

The thief replied by pointing forward. "I can't just 'let you run free'. You and that woman will end up ruining half the city. This path," the way she was pointing, they took it, "will take you out of the city and to the Giza Plains. Do battle with her there and then do whatever it is you please. Just don't bother me anymore."

Riku was about to start another argument with the Dalmascan girl, about why she was so ready to get rid of them, when the street gave way suddenly. Around thirty-metres to their left, a blast of energy shot forth from beneath the ground, displacing bystanders and stones alike in a gout of dust. Rising from that dust, seething in anger, was Vaniele, wings spread outward as she climbed higher and higher into the air. The citizens of Rabanastre had the common sense to flee following the appearance of the Immortal, who instantly locked her gaze on the white-haired form of Riku, dive bombing him like a falcon.

This time though, Riku was ready for the clash, remembering Vaniele's weakness from the other two times they fought. He fired a Ray of Dawn blast at the swooping enemy. She veered out of the way, redirecting her course after avoiding the blast. She was still unable to absorb such a powerful type of energy. As the diving Trinity sibling approached Riku, he pulled something out of her book, jumping straight clear over her, and raking the tip of his Keyblade through her back.

The blow through Vaniele off course, causing her to tumble through the air, and skid across the stones upon landing. She went for another charge, but had to veer off course again, or else run into a barrier of spikes created by Ed. Mid-dodge, she was hit by a second Ray of Dawn, which sliced through the side of her arm, and caused her to float away from her adversaries.

Vaniele quickly landed, folding her wings up, as the heroes slowly closed in on her. Riku held his Keyblade up in a threatening manner, ready to blast the Immortal if she tried anything funny. "Give it up Vaniele!" He shouted. Alphonse and Ed stood to his sides while Kalyn stayed behind, uncaring at the moment. "We know all your tricks. You won't be able to do anything to us."

Vaniele grinned slyly at the threat. "Oh really? Well, then I will let you in on a little secret." Her wings unfolded again. Riku jumped into his battle stance reactively. "Every Immortal always carries a little 'trick' close to their chest, just in case. My brother was a cocky fool, so he never had to chance to use his. But I won't play so recklessly."

The circuitry lining that covered her body began to shine with an even more intense light, growing thicker and pulsing with electric blue life. Vaniele held her arms at forty-five degree angle, as the knives she gripped began to shake and glow with a sickly orange energy. Her body began to emit same orange, plasmatic haze, as the blue circuitry lining shone brighter still. With one final gout of the fog-like aura, Vaniele's eyes turned into shining orbs of energy, the same colour as the energy running down her body, and her bowie knives had transformed.

Their hilts and guards were akin to fencing foils, and even the blade maintained a similar thinness to a foil's blade, except that the blades were not made of steel, but instead were long, burning orange lasers.

The newly upgraded Immortal grinned, an emotion on her face that was a cross between satisfaction and anger. The glowing eyes caught Riku once again, and she prepared to charge after her target.

But she wasn't fast enough. "That's your secret move? Not impressed, lady!" Riku declared, before thrusting Way to the Dawn out again. "Take this! Ray of Dawn!"

The gold and black beam fired for a third time, intending to do more damage to the energy absorber. This time, Vaniele stood her ground, staying immobile as the beam made contact. No impact, no explosion, no pain, no blood. This time, the bolt of Dawn energy was absorbed directly into Vaniele's body, like it was any other type of energy! Chuckling darkly, Vaniele paid Riku back in kind, by opening her mouth and firing her own energy blast.

It hit the stone ground before Riku, knocking up a dust cloud and forcing the silver-haired teen and his alchemist allies away from one another. Vaniele was quick to capitalize, flying out of the dust cloud and descending upon Riku with her new energy swords.

Her swordsmanship had improved with her weapons, as Vaniele hovered about Riku, darting at him with lightning-quick thrusts, and spinning the blades in her hands, creating wide, wheeling slashes. _This is just too ridiculous!_ He was able to either block or dodge all of the attacks, sparks flying from his Keyblade, and narrowly avoiding the energy foils. _It's like she's using the exact opposite of Dawn's strategy from the other day. Energy absorption instead of nullification, and overwhelming offence instead of impossible speed!_ Every time the wheeling, darting sabres came near his body, he could feel the intense, smoldering heat and the dull buzz that they gave off. It uncomfortably reminded him of Xemnas and his aerial blades.

_Come on! You're not losing to this freaky bitch!_ Dawn cheered from inside his heart. _Just cripple her, stop her offence, and show her your moves! Put that freaky bitch in her place!_ Even in the heat of battle, the Spirit was unusually chipper and energetic.

_Easier said than done._ Riku returned. He quickly blocked an x-cut with a Sun Shield. At least he could still use his non-offensive Dawn abilities. _I need a distraction, for starters._

Ask and you shall receive apparently, as just then, Vaniele paused for a moment. With a quick shove of her boot, she pushed Riku back far enough for her to twist around, seeing Ed and Al trying to formulate an attack of their own. The energized Immortal quickly whipped one of her energy foils through the air, the blade bending and extending like an actual whip, and striking the ground and unleashing a burst of energy that upturned the ground once more, holding the Elrics at bay for the time being.

_Couldn't ask for a better moment!_

Riku launched himself into the air, planning on diving down on Vaniele, stabbing her right between her wings. But the Immortal once again proved her intuitive awareness in combat, turning around and sidestepping the attack moments before Riku would have hit her. While recovering from the overextending lunge, Vaniele acted quickly, scraping her energy foils at Riku.

With wide-arcing and wheeling blows, the orange sabres tore through Riku's vest and shirt, and biting hotly into his pectorals. His entire body staggered for a moment after each hit, the vicious, burnings strikes instantly taking there toll on the Keyblader. Because of the heat of the energy weapons, no blood was drawn, but instead, they left behind angry, red, smoking scars all over his chest as the wounds were instantly cauterized. It was a miracle that Riku didn't pass out from the pain of the five burning slashes, which Vaniele promptly followed up with a thrust kick, knocking her foe far away, stumbling to the ground.

Riku was slow to get to his feet, his breathing shallow and ragged. "Is that all you got?" The taunt was empty. He felt like a white-hot iron weight was being pressed down onto his chest. All the same, he assumed his fighting pose once again.

Vaniele cocked her head sideways, her face twitching in anger. "Your mouth just doesn't know when to quit." She snapped, before snapping her left energy foil forward. The orange laser blade extended forward, snaking through the air and coiled around Way to the Dawn and Riku's right arm. The searing pain returned as the orange whip burned through his sleeve and onto his skin. The right blade was soon to follow, wrapping around Riku's neck, lightning-fast.

This was too much for Riku. He struggled against the vice like grip of the coils, gurgling in pain through his constricted airway, writhing in pain from his burning bindings.

But Vaniele was far from done. She tugged on both of her swords, hoisting Riku off the ground and whipping him through the air, his body crashing into a stone wall at a high velocity! His body was screaming in agony and Riku was trying to release that scream, but could only grunt and gurgle aloud.

_AUUGH! Dawn? DAWN! Help me! Please! Dawn? Sora? Kairi? HELP!_

No answer came to him, from his own heart or from the real world, as Vaniele continued to throw him around like a ragdoll, whipping and smashing him into buildings, walls, fountains, and the street, before finally releasing him, semi-conscious, and sending him flopping along the wrecked streets of Rabanastre.

A grin of utter satisfaction and adulation spread across Vaniele's face, her glowing eyes shining even brighter (if that were possible). "My, my, my..." She exclaimed with subdued excitement. She was dragging her energy foils along the streets, leaving large gouges of stone slag as she approached the dazed Keyblade Master. "So this is how the new Warrior of Dawn falls? And after all I have heard. After all that bravado..." Vaniele shook her head. "Here I thought you would be a challenge. But when I consider your past opponents... It seems I overestimated your talents. Josef was a fool, you would have lost to Zexion if it weren't for Namine, and Sora was the one that finished Xemnas." She made the final, slow steps towards her prey.

But one last blockade was thrown between her and her objective. The Elrics and Kalyn dashed from the sides, imposing their bodies between Riku and Vaniele. She stopped dead in her tracks, the satisfied grin turning to annoyance.

"You sure are persistent. Fitting, for a bunch insects."

The three paused, one eye trained on Vaniele, the other watching the barely moving Riku. Edward was about to say hell to the hesitance, when Kalyn spoke up.

"Ed. Al. Get Riku out of here." She ordered calmly. "I'll hold her off." The thief drew her rapier and un-slung her shield.

"What?" Ed balked. "Are you crazy? She'll tear you to pieces!"

"Why do you have to argue with everything I say?" Kalyn asked back. "Just go! Run for it while you have the chance!"

"And abandon you?" Alphonse replied. "We couldn't do that!"

Kalyn gritted her teeth. "Do you idiots really get so attached with everyone you meet? Why do you care about me? Run, run now!"

Although they had their objections to running away, especially Alphonse, but they begrudgingly complied with the thief, Alphonse hoisting Riku over his shoulder, as Vaniele and Kalyn stood off.

"Your throwing away your life, for those three?" Vaniele mused, curiosity crossing her face. "What reason could you have for that?"

"None." Kalyn stated simply. The Elrics had already started their retreat, slowly making their way up the street, the injured Riku in tow. "And I don't need one either. Sometimes the best answers in life come from following one's heart."

"What a stupid girl." Vaniele muttered. "'Following your heart'? That's what every hero proclaims before they do something rash and die."

Kalyn glared down the energized Immortal, assuming a fighting stance. Shield out, sword at her side. "Whatever. I could care less what you think. For the past two years, I've been living for everyone and everything but myself." A trembling energy was building inside of her, something she hadn't felt in sometime. She then cried out defiantly, "So from now on, my life is all about me, what I want, what I need! To hell with what other people think, and to hell with the world around me!"

Around twenty-metres ahead of Kalyn, Edward noticed a very familiar aura spreading around the environment. The world slowly turned to a sepia tone, and everything either stopped or slowed down. The final Blank Medallion of the group floated out of Riku's pocket, shining white against the sepia sea, and aimed at Kalyn, who was motionless.

"You got to be kidding me!" Ed called in disbelief. He noticed that somehow Al was immune to the time slow. "She's a Keyblader! What did she do to deserve one?"

"Well, she did stand up to Vaniele." Al brought up. "And she is sort of sacrificing herself for us."

Edward grunted in annoyance, leveling Fullmetal Fury at the shining Medallion. "Either way, this means we're seeing more of her, and she's going to annoy me further." He fired a ray of light from his Keyblade, through the Medallion, and sending it into Kalyn. "Give me a break..."

The sepia aura began to recede, as Edward and Al continued their retreat, and Kalyn and Vaniele continued their stare down.

"I suppose I can't get you to stand down." Vaniele said. Kalyn just glared daggers at her. The Immortal shrugged. "Oh well. I'll enjoy cutting you to shreds, after that damn bolt you shot in my back!"

Vaniele set off again, cruising above the ground. Kalyn brought her shield up to defend, but Vaniele easily slashed through the top of the wooden shield, the burning blades also searing through the leather straps of the shield. It fell off of Kalyn's arm in a broken, burning heap.

Kalyn quickly spun away from her opponent, whose momentum carried her farther way from her. She went for the attack, swinging her rapier at the airborne Immortal, only for it to be blocked by one of the energy foils. Being an energy weapon, it easily slashed through the steel rapier, like it was nothing. One more slash reduced the blade to a stump attached to the hilt. Vaniele followed with another wheeling, spinning strike, which Kalyn barely dodged. The orange foil narrowly missed hacking off her arm, and instead tore off her right rerebrace. She quickly took two steps backwards, and drew her crossbow. But before she could even fire it, Vaniele brought her foil down on the weapon, smashing it into burning splinters.

It was clear that Vaniele was toying with Kalyn, seeing her as a lesser foe compared to Riku, using much slower and more deliberate swords swings. Still, Kalyn was a thief, not a trained warrior, and so even this tactic was a little overwhelming. She kept back-stepping away from the superheated shafts of orange light, waves of heat washing over her with every slash. And with every slash, Vaniele got closer to slicing Kalyn up...

_Damn it!_ She cursed mentally. Vaniele's last slash was too closer for comfort, severing a few strands of caramel hair from her head. _Damn it! This is becoming a sad, recurring theme in my life...being left helpless by forces I can't control._ Vaniele lunged forward, forcing Kalyn to twist her whole body around to avoid being skewered by the energy foil. She gnashed her teeth together, growling fiercly under her breath. _I've been trapped these past two years. All of Dalmasca has. Utterly helpless. No more!_ She hopped backwards, freeing more space between her and Vaniele. _From now on, I fight for myself. For what I want, for my heart. I won't be trapped anymore!_

Kalyn reared back, fully intent on socking the energized Immortal before her with a strong right hand...

But, as the fist flew through the air, as Vaniele brought up a foil to block the attack, before the fist and sword could meet, a bright light emanated from thin air, catching Kalyn and turning her entire world to white.

When the flash faded, she stood atop a large pedestal, seemingly made out of stained glass. The center of the tower pictured herself, arms spread wide, standing between sea and sky. To the left of her image were a set of circles. Most of these circles were blacked out, with the exception of one, which showed the face of Riku. The outer-most ring of the pedestal was composed of very fine swords, each one pointing outward from the pedestal. Each sword had a single wing jutting from the right side of their crossguard.

Kalyn slowly realized what had transpired before her arrival in her heart. She looked at her fist and called out, to no one in particular, "A-Am I dead?"

_No._ A voice replied. It was mysterious and inaudible, sounding out only in Kalyn's mind. _You are not dead. You simply have been chosen._

"'Chosen'?" Kalyn repeated. "Chosen for what?"

_To wield a great power. A power that means many things for many people. But for you... It means you shall be able to open your heart, the power of freedom._

"'Freedom'?" She repeated again, this time more awestruck than anything else. "If you're offering freedom, then give it here!" She reached up to the sky, towards the slim amount of life filtering downwards. "I don't care what the consequences are, just give it! Please!"

_Your willingness is refreshing_. The voice replied, before a tiny orb of brighter light descended from the sky, this one a pale blue colour. It stopped just short of Kalyn's outstretched fingertips.

With all the height she could muster from her frame, Kalyn lifted herself up, clasping both hands around the pale blue light.

Quicker than she cared to think, Kalyn was pulled back into the real world.

Vaniele was expecting Kalyn's fist to meet her sabre, which would end with the sabre slicing through her hand, arm, and vambrace. Instead, the sabre struck with a solid object. Something that offered resistance to the stream of energy. Vaniele checked to see what had happened, and was shocked to see what was locked with her energy foil.

Quickly, she separated herself from Kalyn, who was still recovering from her trip into her heart.

She was shocked herself, when she saw what she was now gripping. Where nothing had been there before, Kalyn now held a new sword in her right hand. No, more than a sword... it was a Keyblade! Her Keyblade! Both the hilt and guard were unique for a Keyblade, with the hilt being curved, and shaped like the wing of some elegant, white bird. Instead of a fully-circular guard surrounding the hilt, the guard was only on one side of the hilt, shaped like a simple arc of dark blue metal, with three rain drop shapes jutting out from arc, pointed ends facing out. The blade curved and waved, like an undulating wave of water, shining like blue crystal, or a sheet of ice. Where the wave blade ended, it curved in on itself, like an actual wave, and the teeth of the key shot out from inward curve, taking the form of a large, white swan wing. The keychain itself was a winged sword hanging from a blue and white chain.

"You..." Vaniele snarled, trying to hide her flabbergasted nature. She didn't want to face the truth of yet another Keyblade appearing. "What is that?"

Another voice entered Kalyn's mind, whispering words to her. _The grace of water._ The voice was different, but somehow familiar. _Freedom._

With newfound confidence brimming in her, Kalyn smiled in an self-assured manner, talking back to Vaniele. "Freedom." The simple word flew off of her tongue, making her smile even more. "It is my freedom!"

Glowering madly at her foe's newfound confidence and boldness, Vaniele suddenly saw Kalyn as more than something to toy with. She could be a legitimate threat to her mission and her life. As such, Vaniele decided to take the easy way out.

Wings unfolded, she took to the air, dashing over Kalyn and right after Ed and Al, planning on finishing Riku off. But she couldn't get close enough for the final blow, as a geyser of water suddenly shot out from the street, blasting her in the face and forcing her flying backwards, crashing against a wall. Behind her, Kalyn stood, her Keyblade pointing at where the geyser appeared.

"This fight in between the two of us, Vaniele." Kalyn warned her enemy, who, for the first time since assuming her upgraded form, had faced a set back. Kalyn then raised her newly-acquired Freedom above her head, a blue beam of energy firing into the clouds. "Water of Hermes!"

As the beam shot high above, pools of blue energy appeared in the sky, unleashing a rainfall of glowing blue energy, which fell down in a cascade, most of it falling around Ed, Al, and Riku. When the cascade ended, Riku was engulfed in blue energy, the new scars on his body fading, and consciousness soon returned to him.

"Riku?" Alphonse asked, as the white-haired teen began to stir on his shoulder. "Take it easy. You're still hurt."

"No. I'm not." Riku retorted, sliding off of Al's shoulders. His clothes were in tatters, but it was true, all of the wounds Vaniele inflicted were gone. He looked over at Kalyn, who was facing down the recovered Immortal.

"So... do we let her fight by herself?" Ed asked. Riku nodded in silence, still amazed what had transpired in the past few minutes.

Vaniele got back to her feet, cricking her neck. Her mouth was a hard line, anger flashing in her glowing eyes. "So...you've found your freedom, eh?" Vaniele snarled, annoyance and anger very visible upon her. Her wings suddenly shot outward, her orange aura shining fiercer, reflecting her own rage.

"Too bad the only freedom you're going to know is the freeing embrace of death!"

* * *

"We really should start packing warmer clothing."

The party of Sora, Kairi, Dayne, Mulan, Mushu, and Rin had just reached the foot of the Tseng-Shao mountain pass, and already they could feel the crisp, cold mountain air wafting down from the snowy trail. Both Mulan and Rin seemed unfazed by the temperature, but the others were not. Mushu had retreated into Mulan's tunic, his head popping out, while Dayne had buttoned up his coat, crossing his arms over his chest for good measure. Sora and Kairi were no so lucky since they were not equipped with the best winter clothing, as Sora's statement referred to.

"Well, at least you're not coldblooded." Mushu replied between chattering teeth.

"True enough." Kairi offered the small dragon. "But Sora, it's not we travel to cold worlds a lot. The only place that has been really cold so far was Christmas Town, and the world provided us with warmer clothing there."

"I though you have been here before." Rin said. Sora nodded in reply. "Then, how did you stay warm your first time climbing the pass?"

Sora held his chin in thought for a moment. "You know what? I don't really know. Everything sort of just worked out without me thinking about it." Dayne rolled his eyes.

"You're the strangest hero I have ever known." Dayne sighed. He then breathed into his hands, rubbing them to try and get a little warmer.

Rin spoke up again. "So...what shall we do?" The young woman asked. "I mean, we cannot progress as we are now. Sora and Kairi could freeze to death."

Kairi's eyes lit up with an idea. "Actually..." She summoned Oathkeeper and stepped to the side of the group. "This gives me an idea. We can create matter with magic, things like rocks, ice, and water." She pointed Oathkeeper forward, channeling her energy through the white Keyblade. "So, if we can create matter like that, then..."

With a pulse of light, a bundle of winter clothing appeared on the frosty grass, much to the surprise of the group, especially Dayne and Sora.

"Now that's something..." Dayne remarked.

"Yeah." Sora agreed. "I never thought of using magic for a practical use like that."

Dayne shook his head. "No. What I meant was, using magic to create complex objects made of matter that are not part of the elemental prism is an extremely advanced technique." That bundle of clothing before their feet was a testament to how far Kairi's skills had grown in the past month.

"Well, what are we waiting for, then?" Mulan offered. The Chinese woman was as dutiful towards her country as ever.

After finding a place to change discreetly, Sora and Kairi emerged in their magically conjured attires. For Sora, Kairi had crafted him a pair of boots, dark blue snow pants, a thick, red and black jacket, and a grey wool toque with a paopu fruit on the front. Kairi's winter clothing consisted of thicker boots, thick wool stockings, and a rose red jacket, complete with a fur-lined hood. She even conjured a silver-blue jester toque for Dayne.

Now outfitted to defend against the cold, the party head off, traversing the rocky and snowy mountain pass. Along the way, they encountered the usual mobs of Heartless that had plagued Sora's journey from the beginning, although they were nothing more than an annoyance nowadays. Though this did give the group more time to properly analyze Rin's fighting technique.

The woman was armed with a dao blade, which she had kept hidden up one of her sleeves, but she didn't seem too keen on using it as a weapon, preferring to use it to block the attacks any Heartless threw at her, or to use the flat to sweep them away. Instead, Rin showed off some impressive martial arts skills, using wide, sweeping arm movements, fast kicks, and palm thrusts to hold the offending Heartless at bay, or to stun them. The barehanded blows didn't kill any of the Heartless, but it did hold them off long enough for the others to finish them.

But, towards the end of one of the skirmishes, while the others were preoccupied with the menacing Assault Rider Heartless, a lone Shadow behind Rin launched itself into the air, intent on diving down and feasting on the girl's heart. Although he could not pass the naginata of his foe to help her, Sora offered all the assistance he could.

"Rin! Watch out!"

At the warning, Rin turned around to see the ant-like fiend descend upon her, razor sharp claws twitching readily. Without thinking, Rin lashed out with her dao, the small sword striking the Shadow and obliterating it instantly, turning the demon into black powder. The deed done, Rin's sword arm dropped to her side, her mouth agape at what she had done.

A few moments later, the others dispatched the remaining Heartless and gathered around the apparently shell-shocked Rin.

"Rin?" Kairi asked the stunned woman. "Are...are you alright?"

"I'm not cut out to be a warrior." Rin replied quietly. "That thing was not even alive, but...look at me." The girl was literally trembling. "I killed it and I'm quivering...I feel-"

"Calm down." Dayne cut in, his voice a little cold. "This is normal for a...'first-timer'. I was thirteen when I took my first kill." He then walked up to the shaking woman and held her arm tightly, trying to stem her frail nerves. "I threw up right after it happened, and I couldn't sleep for days afterward. If this is your first battle, then it is understandable for you to have shot nerves. But you can't just give up after one bad experience. Move forward, and see what happens before you make you final call."

Rin looked back up at the tall warrior, eyes as big as the moon. She gulped. "Dayne..."

A new voice entered the fray, calling out from the sky.

"Do you always have a motivational speech at the ready, you false hero?" The voice was obviously and painfully familiar to Sora, Kairi, and Dayne. It was Tallgeese.

The cyborg Immortal flew from the sky, hovering a distance away from the heroes with a smirk of superiority on his face. His armour had changed, as he was now equipped with a new chassis plate, this one dark blue with three silver chevrons arranged in a line. His wings had changed too, now shaped like large angular triangles, but locked in place, like a jet bomber.

Instantly, Dayne let go of Rin and marched forward, rage plastered over his face. He quickly drew High Streak, dragging the blade through the snow.

Tallgeese laughed at the sight. "Ha-ha! You always did have the best reactions, Deuce."

"Shut up!" Dayne snapped. The sight of Tallgeese already sent him off the deep end, every word the mechanical monstrosity spoke just pushed him deeper.

"Who is that?" Rin asked Sora.

"Or _what_ is that?" Mulan rephrased. "He looks more machine than man."

"An enemy." Sora stated. "And someone I think Dayne has a personal grudge with..."

"Well it seems I don't need to get your attention." Tallgeese mugged confidently, despite the fact that Dayne was trudging ever closer, a murderous look in his eyes. "So why don't we take our little battle somewhere where we will be allowed more privacy."

"Fine by me." Dayne growled in agreement. Tallgeese grinned wickedly before jetting off farther into the mountain pass, down towards a side trail. Without second thought, Dayne charged forward through the snowy ground at top speed, dead set on tearing Tallgeese into scrap metal.

The others just watched as Dayne and Tallgeese slowly left their sight, turning into specks against the background. It was Rin who finally spoke up.

"What...what should we do?" She asked in a small voice. Sora broke out from the group, stepping forward.

"You all go ahead." He declared. "Investigate this guy in the black cloak. Find out whatever you can. I'm gonna help Dayne." Before he could set off, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. It was Kairi.

"Sora, please..." She looked away, almost embarrassed for some reason. "Just be safe. Please."

Sora smiled at the request. "I will. We'll be back. Dayne and me both." He sealed his promise with a quick kiss before setting off as fast as he could, desperately trying to catch up with Dayne.

"We should go too, Kairi." Mulan said, as Sora himself grew smaller and smaller.

The redhead nodded. "Yeah. Right." It was better than doing nothing and waiting.

And so the three girls and their dragon companion continued their trek up the mountain, eventually arriving at the clearing where Sora had once confronted two different swarms of Rapid Thruster Heartless.

Kairi didn't know exactly what to expect when the group started this hunt for this presumed-Nobody, but she honestly thought finding it would be harder. Instead, when they entered the clearing, they found the enigma, wearing the traditional cloak of the former Organization XIII, just standing there, arms folded behind his back, looking directly at the entrance of the clearing.

Whether he was an actual Nobody or not was still a question to be answered, but just the sight of the cloaked shadow caused Kairi to pale.

The figure took notice of this change in complexion, as he slowly started to step forward to the three girls, who all went for their weapons.

"What's the matter, Princess?" The Unknown's voice was low, threatening, and demeaning. "You look like you've seen a ghost." He – for he was a male – then stopped and looked at his cloak. "Oh wait...I guess you have." He then proceeded to laugh at his own joke.

"Who are you?" Was all Kairi could managed. Oathkeeper had sprung to life in her hand, pointed at the unknown.

"So many things wrong with asking a non-being who he is..." The Unknown muttered, but still loud enough for Kairi and the others to hear. "I am a Nobody if that is what you are wondering, Princess." The way he said 'Princess' made her skin crawl.

"Then, what are you doing here?" Kairi asked, having gotten over the shock of seeing the unknown. "Are you with the Immortals?"

"The Immortals?" He barked roughly, with laughter. "Don't even compare me to those misguided fools. And I am not related to the Organization either. No, I'm an entirely new breed of Nobody."

"What are you doing here?" Kairi reiterated. She continued to press on. "What do you want? Who do you work for?"

For the first time, the Nobody withdrew his hands from behind his back. He wagged a finger at Kairi's request. "Now, now. I can't tell you everything on our first encounter. But..." His hand went back behind his back. "I can say that I am here to give you... a test!"

Lightning-quick, the new Nobody drew his weapons from nowhere, his arms whipping forward and displaying his tools. They were a pair of a special type of sword. Three and a half feet of a silver, pale purple, and green. After about a foot or so of straight blade, the sword's design changed, curving outward into a sickle-shaped hook. The hook was sharpened on both edges, so the weapons could be used as a sword, sickle, or axe. The Nobody emblem was branded on the blade just before the blade curved outward.

As soon as his dual sickle-swords – known as khopeshes – were visible, the Unknown charged forward at Kairi, leaving a trail of snow behind him. Spinning the blades around, the Unknown hammered on Kairi's Keyblade, using his khopeshes like axes. The relentless assault caused Kairi to slip backwards quickly against the slick surface of the snow.

Despite his constant offence, Kairi could tell he was holding back. His attacks were lacking a lot of power, and were not the fastest slashes she had faced. Whatever his mission was, she assumed he wasn't suppose to kill her. _I guess I have learned a lot about being a warrior._ Kairi reflected briefly, before kicking it into gear.

Sidestepping an overhead hack, Kairi quickly casted a Gaiaga spell, causing a boulder to shoot out of the snow-covered ground and into the gut of the Nobody. He staggered back in pain, as Kairi came at him, Oathkeeper wreathed in the flames of her Firaga Blade spell. The Unknown showed off his impressive skills with the khopesh, able to hold to blades at odd angles yet still block effectively, also showing that he could swap between the sickle-edge and the axe-head sides of the swords as quick as a hiccup.

Seeing that her melee attacks were getting her nowhere fast, Kairi shoved off of a khopesh, creating space between her and this new foe, and used another Firaga spell, this time causing pillars of fire to shoot out from the ground and charge at the Unknown. He simply shifted to the left, avoiding the flaming geysers with ease, before charging his quarry again. Keeping her strategy going, Kairi weaved and dodged away from the Unknown's charges, firing spells at him left and right. Large chunks of ice sailed through the air, but the khopeshes easily hacked through the aerial icebergs; arrows of lightning were the next magical onslaught to be summoned, but they only exploded into the snow, as the unknown easily zipped past them.

He quickly got into close range again, hammer the axe-head of his weapons onto the white Keyblade. "I must admit, you are pretty good." He sneered, condescendingly. "Better than I thought. Better than what a Princess should be able to do." The Unknown then kneed her in the gut, causing her to crumple in half. "But that's still not good enough to face me!"

Before the Nobody could capitalize, Kairi slammed Oathkeeper into the snow, pumping light energy into it, and causing the snow to explode, rise up, in a blinding cloud. Unable to see, Kairi jumped away and followed up with another new spell of hers.

"Exploda Firaga!"

Pinpoints of red light began to gather around the cloud of snow and the Nobody, before each one suddenly expanded like a starburst. Each fiery red star unleashed a flaming explosion, creating a fiery funnel cloud that surrounded and overwhelmed the black-clad villain. Finally, all of the fireballs gathered and transformed even further, erupting into a violent gout of searing, white-hot flame that shot high into the sky, eventually dieing down and leaving a dark cloud of smoke, concealing Kairi's foe.

Kairi took one step back, as the billowing smoke slowly disappeared. "I know you're not dead. Come on out!"

"Such a smart Princess." The Unknown cackled, revealing himself by leaping straight through the top of the smoke cloud, khopeshes raised high. His cloak was slightly scuffed, but other than that, he was unharmed. "Now it's time for me to get serious!" Whatever his plans were, the Unknown's counter was cut short when bolts of flame filled the air and striking him in the chest. Mulan had joined the fray, jian sword drawn and with Mushu resting atop her head, serving as artillery.

The Unknown landed, kicking Kairi away, so she would not interfere, before charging Mulan. More fireballs were shot in his direction, but he either dodged them, or shrugged off the ones that hit him. Only a few feet away from her, Mulan lifted her jian, allowing Mushu to light the sword ablaze. With her flaming, ancestral sword, Mulan clashed with the whirling khopeshes of the Unknown, sparks and flames flying left and right from their duel.

"You're pretty good for a regular human, you know that?" The Nobody commented, mid-duel. With his arms spread wide, he began to whirl around, slamming his khopeshes against the flaming sabre. "But it's not enough to face me, without quivering to my menace!"

With a rising slash, the Unknown forced the jian to point skyward. Mulan stumbled off balance, and the Nobody kicked Mulan away, before returning his attention to Kairi.

The redhead was also quick to return to her duel with the black clad man. He ducked a Keyblade slash, before lightly stepping away from Kairi, who kept on slashing and missing the Unknown. Eventually, he stopped dodging and started blocking, Oathkeeper bouncing off loudly when it hit the khopeshes. Eventually, he stopped playing defensive and went for the kill, ripping the sickle-swords downward. Kairi raised Oathkeeper to block, but that's exactly what the Nobody wanted her to do. The hooks of his swords wrapped around the outer bar of the Keyblade, entrapping it in their grip. He then pulled the hooked weapons forward, drawing both the Keyblade and Keyblader forward to. Kairi's head careened into the head of her enemy, striking her down with a vicious headbutt. The blow rattled her head, knocking her for a loop, and caused her to lose grip of Oathkeeper and sending her crashing down.

The black clad enigma discarded the masterless Keyblade, and looked down on the prone, gazed Kairi. "Now, before I depart, I will leave my mark, Princess, so you will always remember to quiver before a true menace!" He was about to bring his right khopesh down, ripping the curved weapon through her chest, when Rin finally decided to knuckle up and interfere.

What happened next happened too fast, even for Kairi or the Unknown to react fast enough. With a swift kick, Rin smashed into the enigma's right wrist, forcing the weapon to fly from his grasp. She followed with a sweeping motion of her arm, displacing the Nobody's arms from their position. With his chest open, Rin went for the kill without even thinking, plunging her dao into the left side of the Nobody's chest, right where his heart would be.

Even so, the Nobody still reared back in pain and gasped, as the steel blade dug deep into his chest. Rin sighed with relief, her hand still grasping the hilt of her blade, white-knuckled.

Kairi watched in disbelief. Rin, the girl who showed intense discomfort just striking down non-living beings like the Heartless, went right for the kill on this Nobody. She had thrown away all of her fears to save her, someone she barely knew.

A bright light flashed from the pouch Kairi wore under her jacket. The world around her slowly turned sepia toned as the Blank Medallion ritual was initiated, time halting for all but Kairi. The shining trinket managed to find its way out of her pouch and jacket, floating in the air, waiting to be sent to its new master. Kairi recalled Oathkeeper and shot the magical keychain deep into Rin's soul.

As the world returned to normal, Kairi realized she had just fired the final Blank Medallion her group had. _First Waltz, and now Rin. _She thought nostalgically. It seemed like a million years ago when they made Waltz a dormant wielder. _And we can't forget Edward. This is certainly an interesting group we're collecting._

Rin's relief was quickly dashed by the Unknown. "That was pretty good." He groaned. Quickly, he dislodged the dao blade and threw it away. Rin backed away in surprise. "But I'm surprised you haven't learned this by now..." With a single open palmed blow, the black cloaked man tossed Rin away. He then collected his discarded khopesh and went running at the downed woman.

"_YOU'RE NOT ENOUGH TO FACE ME!_"

Before the Unknown could leap up, dive down, and reap into Rin, Kairi acted. She fired a lash of light energy, which wrapped around the Nobody's legs, lassoing him and causing him to trip and fall. After the face plant, he looked back in anger, Kairi getting back to her feet. He quickly carved through the tether of light, getting back to his feet too, and preparing for another reaving charge.

"This time, I'm putting you down for good, buddy!" Kairi shouted, aiming Oathkeeper at the mysterious being. "An attack with light in seven colours! A spiraling rainbow whirlwind!" Energy began to gather at the tip of her Keyblade, swirling around in a tornado of vibrant colours.

"_**Rainbow Rain!"**_

The energy at maximum, Kairi began to fire off blasts of light so strong, they actually caused Oathkeeper to recoil like a high-powered handgun. She fired twenty-one blasts in all, each one rotating between one of seven different colours. First red, then orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and finally violet. Each light blast zipped through the air, crashing into the Unknown at unbelievable speed and power. The magic bullets hit with great effect, causing the enigma to stagger back and cry in pain.

When all twenty-one shots hit, multi-coloured energy began to charge up at Oathkeeper's tip once again, forming an even larger ball than the first barrage.

"_**Shining Prism Blast!"**_

The orb fired its payload, this time forming a stream of rainbow energy, moving just as fast as the first shower of bullets. The beam made contact with the Unknown, who, this time, had the sense to cross his arms and protect himself. All the same, he cried out in pain as the rainbow blast washed over him, burning his cloak some more. The attack finally subsided, leaving the black clad figure smoking and crouching in pain, gasping for breath after the vicious attack.

Still, Kairi was frustrated she had not inflicted more damage. _He's a strong one... I'm sure that attack would have done away with an Immortal. How strong is he?_ Another concern that dawned on her was that he said he was a "new breed" of Nobodies. Was he implying that there was more than one?"

"My, my, my, my..." The Nobody choked out. "Hah...Wasn't that something special, Princess?" He dusted himself off, standing back to full height. A corridor of darkness appeared behind him. "My name is Prioscox. You'll do well to keep that in your pretty little head, Princess." And with that, the Unknown now known as Prioscox stepped into his corridor and vanished back to wherever he came from.

Kairi took a sigh of relief, withdrawing Oathkeeper. Mulan sheathed her jian and helped Rin back to her feet, the dormant Keyblader bowing in thanks, before the three girls gathered together again.

"Man, who was that guy?" Mushu asked. "He was even crazier than the other hooded psychos!"

"Yes...that man was something else." Rin replied, still a little breathless. She then turned to Kairi. "I'm sorry for getting myself in your fight." She bowed once more.

"'Sorry'?" Kairi chuckled. "Rin, you saved me from getting hacked to pieces. You saved me, and managed to get over your fears in a single moment." Kairi clasped Rin's hand and smiled. "Thank you." Rin smiled at the compliment.

Mulan spoke up. "I think we should go and find Sora and Dayne. That...mechanical thing looked very strong."

"You're right." Kairi agreed. "They may need our help."

* * *

"There they go again..."

Two Rabanstran youths, known as Vaan and Penelo, were sitting atop a building, far away from the battle involving Keybladers and Immortals. Currently, they were staring at the sky, watching various airships fly by.

"Have I ever told you that it's my dream to fly one of those?" Vaan asked his surrogate sister.

Penelo put a finger to her cheek. "Hmm...About ten times every day for the past two years." She teased.

"Oh, yeah..." Vaan replied.

Suddenly, a large explosion rocked the city of Rabanastre, drawing everyone's attention, including Vaan and Penelo's.

"What do you think is going on there?" Penelo asked.

What was going on was the battle between Vaniele and Kalyn. Vaniele was currently airborne, darting left and right with her wings widespread, slashing at Kalyn every time she flew by. But only sparks were drawn as Kalyn managed to block every single strike of the energy foils. She was very lucky that the Keyblade greatly enhanced the abilities of the wielder.

After several more fly-by-attacks, Kalyn finally decided to go on the offensive. The Keyblade was a peculiar tool when fully awaken, as, like when Edward received his, Kalyn instinctively knew how to use the powers of her Keyblade.

With distance between herself and the flying Vaniele, Kalyn called out, "Surging Font!" Immediately, dozens of geysers began to shoot from the ground, at random spaces and intervals, impeding the speed of Vaniele. She was forced to break mid-air and dive around to avoiding being smashed by the high-pressure spouts of water. "Hydros Slash!" Kalyn sliced Freedom through the air, unleashing a razor sharp, high-speed wave of water. Still preoccupied by the Surging Font attack, Vaniele was barely able to dodge the Hydros Slash, as it clipped off the side of her left wing. The force of the razor wave and the missing piece of her wing was enough to cause Vaniele to spiral out of control and crash.

With Vaniele down for the moment, Kalyn could hear the telltale clang and clatter of Imperials moving out. She turned around to see a small platoon of Archadian soldiers approaching her location. "I've wanted to do this for a long time..." Kalyn said to herself, voice dripping with anticipation. She raised Freedom into the air and brought it down to the ground. "Crashing Wave!"

Freedom unleashed another wave of water, this one wider and blunter than the Slash. The Crashing Wave raced across the street, meeting the Imperials, crashing into them and scattering them across the plaza.

"Don't turn your back on me, girl!"

Kalyn spun around again to see Vaniele back on her feet, hefting a huge boulder over her head. She tossed the piece of rubble at the newly minted Keyblader, but she was ready. She held Freedom horizontally in front of her. Water gathered in front of her, forming a disc-shaped water shield. Although it was not an extremely thick disc of water, the ability increased the surface tension on the shield, making it near impossible for a physical object to penetrate the surface of the shield. The piece of rubble made contact with the shield, but could not break through, and instead fell to the ground, useless.

Surprised by the defensive skill, Vaniele could not react fast enough to Kalyn's next move. She summoned another spout of water, riding it towards the Immortal and taking her down with a spinning heel kick. While Vaniele was still flying back from the kick, Kalyn landed and sprinted towards the energized Immortal. She brought Freedom down on her, only for it to be blocked by one of her foils. Vaniele managed to twist around, climbing into the air and getting above Kalyn, raining down slash after slash all the while. Still, despite her foe's constant assault, Kalyn and Freedom were in top form. The power flowing from the Keyblade increasing Kalyn's fighting skills with every passing second, allowing her to block every single strike. After a particularly wild swing, Vaniele was open for a brief second, which allowed Kalyn the time to unleash another geyser. Shooting up from the ground, the spout smashed into Vaniele's chest and sent her flying away.

It seemed water was the perfect element to counter Vaniele. Being matter instead of energy, Vaniele could not absorb it. Even using her sabres against them proved ineffective, as they only sputtered and smoked, threatening to short out at any moment.

Meanwhile, halfway across Rabanastre...

"Where did those two go now?" Riku asked in bewilderment. Although he was healed, his shirt and vest were still torn to tatters, having eventually fallen off, leaving hims bare-chested.

"I have no clue." Ed said, exasperated. The two alchemists and the warrior of Dawn had been following the fight all around Rabanastre. But, because of the ferocity of the battle, it was certainly not an easy task. "Jeez... those two must have circled the entire city. Twice!"

Suddenly, a spout of water shout up high into the sky.

"I guess we should head in that direction." Alphonse pointed out.

"Curse you and your damned waterworks..." Vaniele spat, having narrowly avoiding being caught in a huge geyser (the very geyser Alphonse spotted). "Every time I tangle with these Keybladers, it just turns into a big hassle. And every time they get a new one, the hassle become bigger!"

"Tell it to someone who cares!" Kalyn shot back, grasping Freedom with both hands and charging her opponent once more. Vaniele held her foils in a cross shape, blocking the running slash and drawing sparks. She pushed Kalyn back and then floated backwards herself. With a quick flick of her foil, she transformed the beam blade into its whip form, lashing outwards. Quickly, Kalyn offered Freedom's blade to the snaking energy whip, as it wrapped about the curving blade of her weapon. Vaniele tugged fruitlessly, trying to drag Kalyn close to her so she could carving her up with the second blade, but Kalyn wouldn't allow it, planting her feet to prevent the Immortal from attacking her.

Looking behind Vaniele, Kalyn saw where their fight had moved to, and an idea began to formulate. Modifying a move Riku used often, Kalyn summoned a geyser of water under her feet, riding the torrent forward and into the air. As Kalyn launched forward, and Vaniele tugged away, the Immortal lost her balance, allowing Kalyn to tackle her foe without getting attacked in return. The momentum was enough to cause the two to tumble back and away, into a hole in the street...the hole Vaniele had created when she came to the surface!

The two girls fell down the pit and crashed into the scummy waters of the Garamsythe Waterway, both taking a moment to get back to their feet.

"So you knocked me into the sewers..." Vaniele grunted. "So what?"

"'So what'?" Kalyn chuckled. "Wow, you really are stupid. We're in a _sewer_. I mean, just look at what we're surrounded by." Kalyn spread her arms wide, and sloshed her legs around in the pool of water. Realization spread across Vaniele's face. She was calf-deep in a Kalyn's element! Just imagine what kind of damage she could cause...

Not taking that risk, Vaniele spread her wings and flew out of the hole, going high into the air.

_Played her like a fiddle..._ Kalyn smirked. She then stepped under the hole herself, and conjured up another geyser, rocketing her into the sky after Vaniele.

While Vaniele was fast in the air, Kalyn was launched at an even faster velocity. Vaniele managed to overtake the highest towers in the city, but Kalyn even managed to overtake her.

"You should have stayed grounded, bitch." Vaniele called out. "You're in the sky. This is my domain. You're finished!"

"That may be true," Kalyn countered, raising Freedom above her head. She was about to reach the apex of her geyser-assisted leap. "But it won't matter if I won't let you use your domain!" At the tip of her Keyblade, Kalyn had collected a massive sphere of water! "Say goodbye. Torrential Hammer!"

Kalyn swung Freedom down at Vaniele, unleashing a massive, high-pressure stream of water. The flood completely engulfed Vaniele, nullifying her speed and sending her diving down through the air and to the city streets below. She crashed into the streets, which gave way to her landing in the form of a massive crater, but the stream did not stop. Kalyn continued to unleash the fast, vicious blast of water, which in turn continued to crush and wash across Vaniele. The stone streets prevented Vaniele from escaping its watery wrath, the stream crushing her with such might that it shattered nearly every bone in her chest cavity, and turning her organs into past. Eventually the stream died down, and Kalyn settled to the ground herself, aided by a spout of water to act as a cushion.

The first thing Kalyn did was check the crater. Vaniele was in awful shape, her body was gnarled, twisted, and malformed, her wings were a metallic ruin, and blood was trailing from her mouth. Her energy aura had died out completely and both foils were out of sight. When she saw Kalyn, Vaniele tried to move, but could only struggle feebly, blood sputtering from her mouth. Kalyn showed no pity towards her dieing foe, only flashing a confident smirk as the remaining life faded from Vaniele Trinity, whose body evaporated into black powder, gone forever.

With her foe gone, Kalyn took a moment to exhale, before a victorious smile spread across her face. She then gazed down at the shining blue Keyblade known as Freedom. Her Keyblade. "Hmm, you really are something else."

"Kalyn!" Riku called out. The Dalmascan girl turned about at the sound of her name. Surprisingly, she was left speechless at what she saw. Riku, bare-chested, his muscular upper body on display to the world.

"Um...hi..." She managed feebly. She tried to hide her feelings, but a small blush crept across her cheeks.

Riku raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" He then looked down at his own chest. "Oh." He realized. Then it really hit him. "Oh!" He hurriedly tried to cover his partial nudity, the two older teens posturing embarrassingly. Alphonse just watch dumbfounded, while Ed gave an annoyed sighed.

"Now is not the time to be bashful!" He declared, throwing off his red jacket and tossing it to Riku. The silver-haired teen quickly covered himself as best he could with the too small coat.

"So Kalyn, did you defeat Vaniele?" Alphonse asked.

The Dalmascan girl nodded and Ed laughed. "Well alright!" The Fullmetal Alchemist declared. "Looks like this is all about to end. One more Immortal down and we gave out our last Medallion." Of course, Ed's excitement was due to the fact that he wanted out of the craziness of being a Keyblade Master and wanted to get back home and start searching for a way for him and Al to get their bodies back.

"You mean our adventure is almost over?" Kalyn said in a slightly-whining tone.

"'Our adventure'?" Riku questioned. "Wait...you're coming with us?"

"But what about your the orphans you look after?" Alphonse asked.

"I'm sure they'll do fine without me." Kalyn replied. "Sometimes, you just have to...let go, and have a little faith." She gave a knowing wink to Riku, who smiled slightly in return. The Keyblade Master of Water then clapped her hands and declared, "Well, what are we waiting for? I would not mind seeing this special airship of yours."

"Before you couldn't stand us," Ed grumbled. "Now you can't wait to spend all day with us in a confined space?"

Kalyn rolled her eyes. "Well, I never did say I would complete stomach all of you." She quipped, sardonically and dryly.

Dawn had her own opinion to the situation. _Great. The Queen of Ho-Town is going to be joining us..._

_Relax Dawn,_ Riku told the Keyblade Spirit. _I think it will be alright. Besides, I kind of like her._

_Of course you like her,_ Dawn said flippantly._ She has boobs. And you have a dick._

Riku mentally face-palmed.

* * *

When they finally reached the clearing Tallgeese had in mind, Dayne stood on the snowy ground, looking up at the still, floating form of Tallgeese.

"So, Deuce...Claudio...Dayne," Tallgeese began, deliberately speaking slowly to aggravate his foe. "Tell me. How does it feel to face me with standing next to R-"

Dayne cut the cyborg off with a growl. "If you speak her name, I swear, I will rip your head right off of your shoulders!"

"Very well then," Tallgeese conceded slowly, mentally noting Dayne's reaction. A panel opened on Tallgeese's leg, forfeiting to him a black laser rifle, which he quickly gripped. "Now, I suppose we should settle this rivalry we have."

"I wouldn't call what we have a rivalry, but so be it!" Dayne gripped High Streak and focused his energy. "Prism Chain Arts, Aerial Style: On Hell Bound Wings We Fly!" The two yellow energy wings sprouted from his shoulders, taking to massive flaps, kicking up snow, before Dayne took to the air, zooming straight to Tallgeese. Unfortunately for Dayne, the Immortal was more than prepared, as his armour deployed six black, orb-shaped probes, with red lights mounted on the front. The six propes formed a circle around Tallgeese. Dayne paid no mind to the ring of probes, but soon regretted the lack of action, as the probes created an electromagnetic barrier. Dayne collided into the electrical forcefield, frying his body on the intense current.

"GYAAAH!" The warrior screamed, as several thousand volts coursed through his body, causing it to spasm violently. With his self-declared rival trapped on the energy wall, Tallgeese leveled his rifle and fired a laser bolt at Dayne, passing right through his chest. The blast was enough to knock Dayne off the barrier, causing the wounded ex-Immortal to fall into the snowbank below, blood leaking from his chest. His energy wings ceased to be.

Tallgeese gloated with a malevolent laugh. "How do you like my Titan Armour, Rivera? It renders me completely impervious to your attacks, while I am free to pick you off with my rifle."

"Deuce, Claudio, Dayne, Rivera..." Dayne growled in reply. The wound on his chest had already closed up. "Pick a name and stick with it!" More energy charged around Dayne as he got to his feet. "Prism Chain Art, Thundaga Style: Dragon Lightning Cannon!"

A dragon-shaped blast of lightning fired from Dayne's palm, snaking towards Tallgeese. The probes reacted quickly, erecting their barrier and negating the lightning attack completely. Tallgeese snicked proudly and loudly again.

"Is that the best you have to offer?"

"Far from it!" Dayne countered. He stuck High Streak into the snow and spread his arms wide. Orbs of flaming energy appeared in each hand. "Prism Chain Art, Firaga Style: Flare Pulse!" He then brought his hands forward, aimed at Tallgeese, and unleashed the energy, firing a series of fireballs, machine-gun fast! But, once more, the attack was futile, as every blast of flame was blocked by the electromagnetic barrier Tallgeese had forged with his probes.

Dayne did not give up though, as he snatched High Streak and launched himself into the air again, this time bringing his heavy bladed down on the energy shield. The wall sparked and wavered, and for a second it looked like Dayne was going to break it down, but Tallgeese quashed that event before it happened. Firing point-blank with his laser, Tallgeese riddled Dayne's body with laser blasts, like he had done back on Twilight Town. The shots took all the energy out of Dayne for the time being, causing him to hang dead in the air. Tallgeese dropped his shield and punched Dayne in the face with a robotic fist, a painful crunch sounding out as Dayne was driven back down into the snow.

"You're disappointing me, Dayne." Tallgeese boomed from the sky, his gun still trained on the bloody, struggling body of the ex-Immortal and bodyguard. "Is what Kaiser said true? Is the soul and energy gone from you? Are you just an empty shell now that Ra-"

"I said NEVER say her name!" Dayne raged loudly. His wounds had healed up again, and he was back on his feet, facing Tallgeese. He put on a brave front, but he was exhausted. What the hell was happening to him?A couple of shots and he was nearly out of gas. Had all of his energy really left him when Rain passed away?

"You really have spent too much time with the humans." Tallgeese stated in a dark tone. He fired another laser, this one ripping through Dayne's knee, forcing him to kneel. "You've become too sentimental. You can't even let go."

Another shot was fired, but this one failed to hit its target. A silver and yellow blur flew through the air, arcing around in front of Dayne, deflecting the laser, before arcing back to its owner, Sora.

"And another contender enters the fray." Tallgeese chuckled at Sora. "I hear that Our Lord has declared you a weakling."

Sora gritted his teeth as he joined the side of his ally. "Dayne," the brunette began. "Are you alright?"

"Why did you come?" Dayne questioned, ignoring the question.

"We're strongest together." Sora responded. "I though you could need the help."

Dayne closed his eyes and got back to his feet. "Thanks." He muttered quickly.

Sora nodded before returning his attention to Tallgeese, aiming the Kingdom Key at Tallgeese and unleashing a Firaga fireball at the cyborg Immortal. But, like all of Dayne's offence before, it was nullified by the energy shield the probes crafted.

"What the...?" Sora gasped in shock.

"He changed armours." Dayne explained. "This one is designed to defend against attacks while he takes pot-shots at us with his rifle."

"I wouldn't describe it that way, but yes." Tallgeese intoned. "And a weakling like you, Sora, will never be able to break my impenetrable shield!"

"Stop it, stop it! Just stop it!" Sora yelled out, his hands balling tightly into fists. "I am tired of you Immortals. You're a constant pain in my ass, and I'm equally pissed with you calling me weak! I am not weak!" The Keyblader then began to breath in and out heavily. Tallgeese couldn't help but laugh again.

"Say that all you want," the Immortal boomed proudly. "But you can't close your eyes to the facts. Unlike your companions, you have yet to defeat one of us Immortals in one-on-one combat, and you have lost at least one person on the last two worlds you've been to. Who do you think you will lose this time? Dayne? Kairi? Face the facts you simpering fool, you're out of your league! You'll never stop us and you'll never be able to protect you precious friends!" Tallgeese then let loose, raining laser after laser on the young Keyblade Master.

Sora didn't move an inch, standing his ground and swinging his Keyblade left and right, deflecting every single shot with ease and skill, leaving both Dayne and Tallgeese stunned.

When the laser rain subsided, Sora still stood, the smoking Kingdom Key at his side. "From now on, I won't hold anything back. I will be as strong as I can. Fight with all of my heart, and never look back. Nothing will stop me." He then raised his head, cerulean eyes burning with a fierce determination that had never been seen in those orbs before. "Not you, not Cassius, not anyone. I will be strong. For everyone. For Dayne, and Riku, and Kairi, Roxas and Namine. Everyone! I will defeat you – we will defeat you! And I swear, that I will protect and save everyone around me! I will not lose another soul, and I will save those already lost!" The determination in his eyes began to pour outward, forming a powerful, pulsing aura around him. "Do you hear me Tallgeese! This is not a promise, this is my strength! My desire to protect!"

The sensors within Tallgeese's helmet were going haywire, reading Sora's strength, displaying astronomical figures. _My word..._ Tallgeese balked mentally. _His strength...I can't believe this. He's stronger than Dayne on the Infuse... I think he might be stronger than Cassius...!_

Sora waited no longer, as he jumped into the air, higher than ever before, shooting like a comet towards the cyborg Immortal. The probes came to life, erecting the barrier, but Sora did not care, as he slammed Kingdom Key onto the energy wall, the two forces sparking together. Tallgeese once again drew his blaster and fired at Sora, but the Keyblade summoned a Reflega barrier mentally, blocking all the laser shots. Unable to drive Sora off of the energy wall, Tallgeese watched helplessly as Sora pressed Kingdom Key harder and harder into the wall. Seconds later, the probes began to spark and overload, exploding into fiery wrecks as the barrier fell, the probes turned into useless scrap.

Without anything to impede him, Sora continued his shooting star ascent, bringing his Keyblade down with a powerful double-handed slash, the silver bladed weapon tearing through Tallgeese's chassis and body, eventually coming out the other side and slashing his left wing in half! Sora fell back down to earth with grace, while Tallgeese spun out and hit the snowy ground in a heap. Dayne tried to capitalize on this, leaping in the air, planning to bring High Streak down on the cyborg.

It was not to be, as Tallgeese quickly teleported away, tens of metres away from the two heroes.

Even though he had only taken one hit, Sora's blow had disabled both his shields and flight, rendering the point of his Titan armour pointless. He had lost today.

"Very well, Sora, I will concede victory to you." Tallgeese breathed, bowing in a mocking manner. He would not admit to the boy that his power levels reached a point he had never seen before. "But I have some words for you Dayne," he looked at his subject, a shat-eating grin on his face. "You may have won today, but the victory is not yours. It is Sora's. A spectre still hangs above your head, and you have yet to vanquish it." And with that, Tallgeese vanished.

Dayne fell to his knees, grasping his sore body, previously riddled with laser blasts. "Damn it..." He moaned. Something was seriously wrong with him. His energy was being sapped constantly in battle. It was if his body was breaking down.

"Dayne?" Sora asked, approaching the downed warrior. "Are you okay? You look-"

"I'll be okay." He offered. "It's just...Just, I'm still feeling the burn from the beating Cassius gave me." Sora offered him a hand, a useless gesture since Dayne was so much larger than Sora. All the same, he took the hand and got back to his feet. "That was...something else there, kiddo."

Sora looked away for a moment. "I just got so frustrated with them stepping all over me. I'm just pretty frustrated overall."

"Yeah." Dayne could understand why he was feeling that way. The last week or so had been hell on all of them. "Let's go find the others." Dayne offered, and Sora agreed with a nod.

The two walked back to the main mountain trail and quickly ran into the girl's group, with both groups sharing their tales as they descended back down the mountain. Sora and Dayne quickly relegated their quick encounter with Tallgeese, leaving the girls to explain their encounter with the ghostly Unknown that calls himself Prioscox.

"So, how did those rumours turn out?" Dayne asked the girls.

"Very real." Mulan replied. Mushu nodded rapidly.

"Black is back," the dragon guardian responded. "And the loonies are back in black!"

"Are you sure he was a Nobody?" Sora asked. He was still a little disbelieving that the humanoid Nobodies would be back. He had enough trouble with them in his first two outings. And he still couldn't remember the first encounter!

"He said he was." Kairi replied. "His weapons had their insignia on them, and he vanished through a corridor of darkness."

Dayne grinned jaggedly. "If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck..."

The redhead was quick to agree. "My thoughts exactly." Kairi shivered. "It gave me the creeps standing up to that guy. It was like Saix was back from the grave or something."

"And he said he wasn't working with your current enemies." Rin added. "The Immortals, correct?"

"Yep. And I think implied that there were more Nobodies besides him." Kairi stroked her hair back a few times. "He was holding back in the fight too. He didn't use his element, and he was able to survive some of my strongest attacks."

"Great," Dayne mumbled dryly with a roll of his eyes. "Just what we need. Another group of super-powered beings with psychological issues." The group finally made their way out of the mountain pass, and back to the bases hills.

"Either way, we'll win." Sora said optimistically. "I know it." The others in the group nodded and offered their sentiments of agreement.

"Then I suppose this is where we will depart." Kairi declared.

"Wait, what?" Sora questioned. Dayne had a puzzled look on his face too. Kairi drew the two boys for a private conversation.

"I gave out the final Medallion." Kairi whispered to them. "It's Rin. She's our last Keyblader."

"Oh." Sora blinked. "Then I guess it is really is our time to head out."

"Well it was nice seeing you again Sora," Mulan said. "I hope that everything goes well for you in the future."

"And it was nice to meet all of you." Rin added, her typical smile and wide eyed expression on her face.

"You too Rin." Kairi returned, giving the young woman a light hug. "We'll come back to visit sometime."

"Take it easy you three," Sora said, waving goodbye. Dayne nodded at all three as his farewell, and the off-world warriors departed, walking away to a safe distance to get back to their ship.

With the others gone, Mushu spoke up. "So where does that leave us hero?" The energetic dragon then began to crawl around Mulan's body in an energetic manner. "What might our next, great adventure be, baby girl?" Mulan turned to Rin, who looked kind of loss with the sudden arrival and departure of the Keybladers.

"I was thinking, without Sora here, maybe we could offer Rin some more training?"

After a second of shock, Rin turned to her idol, eyes wider than they have ever been. "Really? You would train me?"

"Of course." Mulan replied. "You certainly have some skill, and you're not without bravery." Mulan then stepped next to Rin and put an arm over her shoulder. "Besides, us girls have to stick together."

* * *

Back in the mountains, deep in the Tseng-Shao pass, Prioscox had retreated to report back to his current leader. His commander was a female Nobody, although she kept her body draped in darkness, obscuring her view from even Prioscox.

"So, what did you think?" The female Nobody asked. Her voice was cold, collected, almost devoid of emotion. Like a typical Nobody.

"It was very interesting..." Prioscox replied. "Although I'm very sour that that stupid Immortal Tallgeese broke up the group. I only had a chance to match blades with the girl."

"And it looks like she gave you a time." The female pointed out, motioning to the burns on Prioscox' cloak.

"She certainly is strong." Prioscox conceded. "Not that strong. But she does have potential. Could be a hard fight, dealing with that one. She has a fire!" He said the last sentence with a bark of laughter.

"Not likely. Either way, report back to base with your findings. He should be very interested in your direct contact with Kairi." Prioscox summoned a corridor and was about to leave, when his commander spoke to him again. "One more thing. Two days from now, we will all be gathering at The Castle That Never Was in the early evening, to finally dealing with that witch."

Prioscox nodded at the order, but the other Nobody was not done yet, having one last piece of news for her compatriot.

"And also, Lord Anarados will be joining us on that day."

**To Be Continued**

_Jeez, that was an ordeal for some reason. Anyways, I am sorry for taking so long to update guys._

_But we are now in the home-stretch of the fic, with only three worlds left to venture, and all the characters uniting together. But at the same time, it looks like we have more to deal with than the Immortals. Who are these Nobodies? How many are there? What are they after? Who is this 'Anarados' person? Tune in...a long time from now for those answers!_

_Also, if you can decipher Prioscox's name to its proper form, you will get the name theme for these new breed of Nobodies._

Journal Set #14

Kalyn Dun-Imnan

A resident of Rabanastre, Kalyn's life was put in upheaval when her nation was occupied by the Archadian Empire. The experience has left Kalyn bitter, angry, and borderline nihilistic. The group's encounter with Kalyn seems to have sparked something within the girl, which lead to her becoming a Keyblade Master and defeating Vaniele Trinity.

Rin Tae Sabian

A young woman from an unknown world who recently found herself in the Land of Dragons. She desires to accomplish the final wish of her late mother and become a warrior, but her unwillingness to kill puts her at odds with this desire. She briefly encountered the party, gaining a new outlook on life, and temporarily conquering her fears. She is a dormant Keyblader.

Prioscox

A Nobody of unknown origins and power, working for an unknown cause. He is entirely shrouded in mystery. His element he wields is unknown, but he does wield two khopeshes in battle.

Keyblader Profile #2

Kalyn Dun-Imnan

**Keyblade:** Freedom

**Master Element:** Water

**Class:** Thief

**Pre-Keyblade Powers:** Very agile, proficient with a variety of weapons and armour.

**Post-Keyblade Powers:** Enhanced agility and strength, able to manipulate water in various ways, and her Keyblade can conjure a limited amount of water.

**Chapter Preview**

_Dayne: And now we're back to the place where it all went wrong._

_Sora: Cheer up, man. This is almost all over._

_Kairi: I wonder how this will turn out in the end?_

_Cassius the Heaven: Quite simple. It will end with our victory!_

_S/K/D: Cassius!_

_Sora: We won't lose this time, we will win! I made a promise!_

_Cassius: Try as best you can, fools. You may have survived the fiery depths of hell, but you won't ever ascend the heights of heaven!_

_Next Chapter: Dayne's darkness and Sora's strength. **Genesis of Destiny Chapter 36: Heaven's Wrath!**_

_Dayne: Whether I live or die, I will do this by myself. That is the only way!_

* * *

_Please Review_

_Sir Angelo_


	36. Heaven's Wrath

_(Angelo is standing about, grinning broadly, with Kairi watching on)_

_Kairi: Someone's in a good mood. Here I thought you would be crawling your hair out, waiting for BBS._

_Angelo: Oh, I'm still going nuts inside, but I came across some good fortune the other day. For you see...as of next week, I will have become a published theatre critic by the age of 19. Oh yeah! This calls for a victory song (Angelo sings, to the tune of the 'Final Fantasy Victory Chime'): You just got pwned, F-T-W! Now you're dead, you're dead 'cause we killed, we took you by surprise! We saw you walking in the forest, and said let's kill those guys! You're a squirrel who somehow has money, and sometimes swords and shields. I don't care if you're a cute bunny, I'll pwn your ass for realz!_

_(Angelo keeps singing as Kairi watches on with a disturbed look)._

_Kairi: ...And this is the guy in charge of my fate. Oh god..._

_In serious news, being a fan of the franchise, I recently checked out the sixth season of Digimon, Digimon: Xros Wars. For reference, this is the first time I've seen a Digimon season in Japanese, as I watched the others dubbed in English (yes, even Savers/Data Squad). Xros Wars is...weird to say the least. It seems that the gimmick of this season is to throw out Digivolution entirely and instead have the Digimon combine together, like Voltron or the Megazord. It's just weird... Weirder than Frontier where the kids BECAME the Digimon. I dunno, I've only seen three episodes and it hasn't been too bad._

_Also, I am currently creating a Tabletop RPG based off of Kingdom Hearts. It is nothing special though, just modified D&D rules, with new classes, Keyblades, and the Heartless._

_Disclaimer: Angelo did not right the lyrics to the song above. It was written by an internet comedian called Brentalfloss. He is really awesome and funny and everyone should go support him by listening to his stuff on Youtube. I highly recommend his "Megaman 2...with Lyrics" and "Final Fantasy Classic - CD Version" songs/videos. Anyway, enjoy the show!  
_

Chapter 36: Heaven's Wrath

"It's about time you contacted us. We've been wandering around space aimlessly for severals hours." Dayne said through clenched teeth. He, Kairi, and Sora were all gathered in the bridge of their ship, conversing with Terra through the video communication link on the ship's computer.

"I'm sorry for that." Terra replied graciously. "But, need I remind you that you are not the only group with a mission." He then spoke to Dayne directly. "And...I'm sorry for what happened at the Garden. I know that pain...you have my deepest condolences."

Dayne said nothing, just clenched his teeth. The remark was sincere, surprisingly so, but Dayne still had his misgivings about the Keyblade Knight. _You have all sorts of knowledge..._ He glared at Terra subtly. _You knew this would happen to her. You knew it. And you did nothing. Said nothing..._

Kairi was more genial with the apparent architect of this mission. "Terra, can you tell us what's next?" She asked. Without the Blank Medallions, the ship lacked a definite direction to travel in.

"I can." He stated simply. "We're finally going to face off with the Immortals, and end it once and for all." Dayne's eyes widened, his body language becoming less hostile. "But before that, all of the groups need to be brought together. Head to Twilight Town. I've already informed Riku, Edward, Alphonse, and Kalyn of this."

Sora looked puzzled. "Kalyn?"

"Oh, a new Keyblader they recently made." Terra explained quickly. "At any rate, you'll be meeting with Riku and his group, as well as Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and an envoy of mine." The three shared a glance at the mention of this 'envoy'. "After that, you'll all head back to the Destiny Islands so we can plan our final assault on the Immortals."

"'The Islands'?" Sora repeated. There were mixed feelings at the mention of returning home. On the one hand, it was his home; on the other, he didn't want to bring any of the trouble that seemed to follow him everywhere he went.

"And where will you be this entire time?" Dayne asked in the traditional harsh-and-accusatory tone he had when addressing Terra.

"Don't worry, I'll be around. I just have an errand to run." Terra replied, with a thin grin on his face. Dayne was not convinced.

"And this envoy?"

"Don't worry, you'll be in good hands with her." Terra assured. "Anyways, I will leave you three to your own designs. I will see you all later today." He gave a quick, lazy salute before the screen went black.

As soon as his image vanished, Dayne grumbled aloud. "It just had to be Twilight Town..."

"Not your favourite place in the universe, is it?" Kairi returned, in a half-joking manner.

"Well between the fact that I almost became homeless and destitute on that world, or the...'clock tower incident'..."

"I'm just glad this will all be over soon." Sora declared, leaning back in his chair. The brunette's optimism was back in full swing. "We'll get everyone back together, defeat all the Immortals. And then, we'll find Roxas and Namine." Kairi nodded brightly. She was equally pleased to see Sora's optimistic outlook return; it was one of the reasons why she fell for him in the first place.

Dayne nodded too, more subdued than Kairi's, and began to leave the bridge. "I'll be in my room for the time being." He announced. "Call me when we reach the world." And with that, he left.

As the tall warrior proceeded down the curving hall of the ship towards his room, a sudden wave of weakness washed over his body. He staggered, stumbled for a moment, before his legs gave out and he keeled over, his body resting up against the wall. The waves of atrophy and exhaustion continued to hit him over and over again, his breathing becoming ragged and slowed, and his vision blurring.

…_God damn…God damn… What the hell is wrong with me? Why is this happening? Why now?_ Through his blurred eyesight, he saw that his hands were trembling. His entire body was shaking. _Why…it feels like my entire soul is on fire, burning out._ Dayne's legs gave way fully, he was now sitting on the ground, back against the wall, body shaking, and he had broken out into a cold sweat.

_Am I... Am I dieing?_

* * *

To say that Maleficent was unhappy would be an understatement.

Throughout the entire conflict, her forces and allies were slowly abandoning her, she had yet to score a major victory against the Keybearers, and her only noteworthy action as of late was seizing four of the Princesses of Heart... and even that had turned against her! The King and his cohorts had broken into her fortress and rescued the four maidens, defeating another one of her Hollow Heartless in the process.

If it had been a normal day, she would be taking her wrath out on Pete right now. But, today she was hosting a very special, and unwanted, visitor.

"Your incompetence never ceases to amaze me, witch." A smooth, Hispanic-accented voice rang off the walls. It was the same interloper Maleficent encountered weeks ago, the first unwanted visitor she had faced. "Not only do you not have any of the other Princesses, you've lost all of them!" He chuckled loudly and mockingly. Although he still stood in the shadows, Maleficent could see he was clothed in all black.

"I do not take kindly to being mocked, you nattering fool!" Maleficent threatened. Instantly, the figure stopped chuckling and gave the Mistress of Evil a hard glare through the darkness.

"And my masters do not enjoy being strung along by a useless investment." The Unknown barked back. "Nor do I for that matter..."

The fury of the witch sparked, manifesting in a cowl of emerald flames. "'An investment!' You dare refer to me as an investment!"

The Unknown yawned at the display of power, unimpressed. "You're right, actually. 'Investment' is too kind of a term. You're more like... hmm... A pawn, who has outgrown her use."

That was the last straw. The emerald inferno erupted around Maleficent again, a hateful glare forming in her eyes. "Do not assume that you can walk into my castle and presume to insult me in such a grievous way!" The sorceress raged. Brilliant bursts of green fire shot from her staff, careening around the room. Pete, who had been cowering in the corner prior to this, was now backing away even more, legs shaking in terror. The Hispanic Unknown was far from impressed or terrified. Maleficent, nevertheless, continued. "I am the Queen of All Darkness! The Mistress of Evil! I almost conquered the entirety of the Realm of Light, and I will not be demeaned, cowed, and insulted by a simpering coward who sulks in the shadow, such as you!"

One more magical blast emanated from her staff, a bright green inferno taking the shape of a serpentine dragon. The mystic fire roared and raced through the air, towards the Unknown, its maw engulfing its target in a grand explosion, kicking up dust and rubble throughout the throne room.

Seconds past before the cloud slowly began to settle. Leaping out of the earth-toned haze, was the completely unharmed Unknown. Like Prioscox and his commander, this being was clad in an immaculate Organization black cloak.

"You can thrash and posture all you want, Maleficent," the man noted calmly, completely unfazed by the attack that just hit him. "But in the end, it means little and less. This is your last warning. Lord Anarados himself will arrive by sundown tomorrow, and if you cannot produce something of substance and to our liking, then your borrowed time and power shall be seized, most hostilely."

And with that, a Corridor of Darkness appeared, the Hispanic-accented Unknown vanishing into it, leaving Maleficent to glare, sneer, clutch her staff, and stew in her anger.

Somehow, Pete managed to summon the courage to speak. "Um...Maleficent..." The witch shot her lackey a look that could curdle milk. "I was uh...just wonderin' what're we gonna do in order to..." He gulped, "save our hides..."

Maleficent was about to lash out at her lackey once more, but she stopped herself part way through. An idea popped into her head. An idea so simplistic, that it was amazing she had never tried it before. She always avoided direct conflict with the Keybearers, because she refused to lower herself to their level. But now was no time for arrogance...

"We're finally going to be pragmatic, Pete. At long last, we're going to deal with the root of our problems..."

* * *

A few hours later, around midday, Sora, Kairi, and Dayne made landfall once more at Twilight Town. After his sudden episode earlier in the day, Dayne had recovered back to his normal self, and had not breathed a word about what happened to either Sora or Kairi. He had no desire to worry them further.

The three had arrived in Tram Common area of Market Street, which was sparsely inhabited by shoppers and shop-owners. "Do you think we should head out? Try and find Riku or King Mickey?" Kairi asked her two male companions.

Dayne shrugged. "They may not be here, right now." He replied. A tired edge had entered his voice as of late, and while everyone noticed it, they said nothing about it. Sora and Kairi just assumed Dayne was still grieving for Rain. Dayne didn't want to think about why he sounded that way. "It depends on how far away they were from this world."

"I say we should look around, just in case." Sora offered anxiously. "I mean, it's not like we have any other business to attend to."

Dayne chuckled to himself at Sora's urging tone. "You just wanna see your pals again." Sora laughed, too.

"So what if I do?" He said, dodging any possible teasing. He assumed his typical stance, legs crossed, hands behind his head. "We barely saw Riku that while back, and I haven't seen Donald and Goofy in forever." Kairi patted her boyfriend on the shoulder.

"We'll be united again soon enough." Kairi returned. "But first, we have to do the legwork and find them."

That business settled, Dayne instantly started walking towards the sandlot, figuring that a large gathering of teenagers would be the best place to start looking for a teenager. But he was stopped when Sora, who still had not started to move, spoke up.

"Um...Dayne? I know that you're going through...things right now, so you don't have to answer this if you don't want to. But, what is this rivalry that you have with Tallgeese."

Dayne sighed. The warrior suspected this would come, given the ferocity of their past two fights, and Tallgeese's extreme, discriminatory violence towards Dayne.

"There really is no rivalry." Dayne replied, his voice low and tired as before. He turned around to face his friends, scratching the back of his head. "Several years ago, Tallgeese was the one that took my place as the right-hand man to Cassius. Tallgeese interprets that usurping of power the reason why I have a grudge against him." He shook his head. "That idiot always had a few screws loose in that tin can of a head..."

Sora followed up his original question. "Why do you have a grudge against him, then?"

Dayne ran a hand through his hair in a nervous manner. "Because... in the early days of the Immortals, Cassius recruited the majority of our members personally. But not Tallgeese. I was the one that brought him into the fold. I unleashed a monster into the world..."

"Is that all?"

The simplicity and ease of Sora's statement through Dayne back in shock. "What?" He said incredulously.

"Dayne." Sora began, trying to temper each word properly. He came off a little too sarcastic and cheeky before. "You heap way too much grief on yourself. I know you've lived a long time, and you've done some bad things, but you can't just bury yourself in your own past. You don't deserve that. You're a good person." The sentiment was given in all honesty.

Dayne blinked at the teenage boy. For the past month, Dayne had written the boy off as annoying, naive, foolhardy, irrational, and undeserving of Kairi. But now, staring at the brunette Keyblade Master, Dayne saw a piece of Sora he hadn't seen before.

_Is it possible that he's grown so much in such a short time?_ His mind thought, even though his body was still in shock.

"Sora...I-" Dayne bumbled, beginning a sentence he didn't know how to end. He was quickly interrupted when Sora spotted a flash of light out of his peripheral vision. Reacting quicker than one could imagine, Sora shoved Dayne backward, before pulling himself back to avoid whatever he had seen.

The flash raced between both of them, and ending up embedding itself in a nearby wall. The three approached it, seeing an oddly familiar steel blade shaped like an elongated diamond; elegant handwriting was scrawled along its surface. Sora quickly plucked the blade from it's resting place.

"'Meet me at the train station in ten minutes'." He read aloud. "'Signed, CH.' CH?" He turned to his companions. "Any ideas?"

It took a moment before Dayne blurted out. "Cassius the Heaven!" As soon as the identity of the messenger dawned up the ex-Immortal, Dayne immediately bolted away from Market Street and towards the Twilight Town Central Station. In fact, he moved quicker that Sora or Kairi had seen him move, busting out his rarely used superhuman speed.

"Dayne!" Kairi called out, a second after the silver-blue-haired warrior began his dash. But a second was too late, as he was already gone in that short timespan. Sora and Kairi quickly pursued, but were extremely outpaced. "Damn it!" Kairi cursed mid-run. "He's going to get himself killed at this rate!"

"Well, that's why we're following him." Sora brought up. The two narrowly weaved away from passengers who were about to be trampled by their beeline dash. "He'll be fine with us at his side."

"That's not it." Kairi countered. "Haven't you noticed something off about him lately? Ever since he fought Cassius on the Garden, he's just been acting oddly. Especially during battle." Sora had to admit, there was something wrong with the bodyguard. His short battle with Tallgeese on the Tseng Shao pass highlighted that fact. "He's rushing into battle blindly, regardless of the consequences. Not caring what happens to himself." Dayne may have reaffirmed his companionship with Sora and Kairi, his desire to complete their quest, but something was still visibly eating away at him.

"What can we do then?" Sora asked.

"I don't know." Kairi replied, her voice full of worry. "I guess all we can do is watch is back, and confront him about this when the battle's over." A moment passed in silence, the only sounds being their feet bounding off the cobblestones, before Kairi spoke again. "Do you think we can beat Cassius again?"

"Yeah." Sora confirmed, after swallowing hard. "We just have to be careful." He then added, to himself, _Besides, we have to. For Roxas and Namine._

Meanwhile, Dayne had reached his destination, standing before the main train station. Like Market Street, only a few people were meandering about the plaza, the signature clock tower of the town towering above all (Dayne bristled at the sight of the monolithic monument). And standing atop the clock tower, was the cloaked form of Cassius the Heaven, his layered, metallic-looking wings draped over his skinny body.

The Immortal leader seemed to go unnoticed by the people of Twilight Town, until Dayne called up to him, all the rage building in him shooting out in that one yell.

"CASSIUS!" The few people around him looked to the shouting, furious warrior, then to his large sword, and then to the being he was looking at. "I'm here now, so come down and fight me!"

Cassius chose not to respond directly, instead laughing in his mocking, lyrical laugh. "I forgot how eager you always were." He said. "But that same outlook you have has always been your greatest weakness."

Dayne drew High Streak, his fury growing more evident by the second. "I did not come for your annoying nattering! I came for a fight, for closure, for vengeance!"

The Heaven chuckled darkly. "Such an ignoble motive. It's not fitting for a... hero, like yourself, now is it?" The skinny Immortal quickly spread his wings open, revealing the source of the metallic blades. With a quick flick of his wings, he threw off two feathers, which each instantly grew into the foot-long, diamond-shaped blades.

Dayne blocked the opening volley with ease and power; a violent stroke of his sword severing both projectiles in twain.

The small group of citizens quickly fled in panic at the genesis of battle between the two Immortals.

Dayne swung his sword back into the position he held it for his fighting stance. "I never proclaimed myself to be a hero." He offered retort to Cassius's last statement.

"Then what might you be?" Cassius badgered. The winged Immortal jumped off the tower, slowly descending to the top of the station building proper. "An avenger? Knight? Crusader? Paladin? Tell me, Dayne Rivera, what do you think you are?"

"I..." Dayne started to speak, unsure of what to say to that question. Soon after, he growled, shaking his head, furious that he had let Cassius get into his head so easily. _Don't let him mess with you!_ He told himself in anger. _Just keep fighting!_

Dayne did as he was told (by himself), rearing his sword back and charging forward into the air. Cassius smirked in his smug, superior way, before flapping his wings again, unleashing more steel feathers that soon transformed into blades. Dayne bared the brunt of the steel storm, hovering in midair, swinging his sword wildly to bat away and destroy any projectile that came near him. But it was no use, as Cassius just kept the pace up, the feathers covering his wings regenerating spontaneously. More and more steel blades filled the sky, and Dayne did try his earnest to survive the attack.

One single blade managed to slip by Dayne's defence, driving itself into his chest staggering him for a moment. That moment was all it took for the relentless volley of the Heaven, as more and more razor sharp feathers rained down on him, slashing into him, shredding his clothing, and piercing deep into his own body. Eventually the torrent beat down Dayne enough, sending him crashing to the ground, which was littered with discarded blades.

A bloody Dayne rolled across the steel-covered ground, some blades falling out of his body, and others slashing him further. Cassius ceased flapping, looking down upon Dayne with the same grin of superiority, watching his former ally, gazing upon his now blood-rival. The blue-haired warrior slowly got to his feet, plucking the swords from his body, while several other wounds healed themselves up.

But not every wound was healing, and the ones that were healed very slowly. _Crap..._ His vision was blurring a bit, and he could taste blood in his mouth. _One attack and I'm already losing it. Either he's very strong, or I'm as weak as I feared._ He made sure he didn't show his fear or trepidation, instead hefting High Streak once again.

"This is where you and I differ. You're just a one-trick-pony Cassius! I, on the other hand..." A burning red aura began to form around Dayne's body. "Have plenty in my arsenal to take even you down! Prism Chain Arts, Firaga Style: Pyro Stream!"

The aura darkened in colour, rising twenty-feet into the sky, before branching off into seven streams of flame, all of which were aimed at Cassius.

"Your eagerness harms you once again." Cassius replied, unafraid and unmoving in the sight of the approaching flames. The winged Immortal then ripped out a handful of feathers from his wings, tossing them lazily into the air. "You rush into battle blindly, not knowing my full capabilities." With a snap of his fingers, the drifting feathers transformed into blades, joined together in groups of three and forming several six-pointed-star-like objects. "While the Heaven may not be as durable as the Hell, it makes up for that in spades, I assure you." The flames drew closer, but Cassius only waved a hand at them.

The blades composing the stars began to spin around, creating a large amount of force, wind, and energy. They imposed themselves between one of the fire bursts and Cassius himself, blocking the elemental attack and displacing it completely. Dayne could only look on in shock, barely avoiding Cassius's next attack due to it. Cassius separated the stars, sending them darting forward. The ex-Immortal did manage to dodge the attack, but he was soon caught off-guard again. Several of the discarded blades on the ground rose up suddenly, a steel torrent that caught him in the back, ripping through leather and flesh alike. He twist around in pain, more hot blood spilling from his body, before managing to get off of the metallic carpet Cassius had created.

Cassius laughed cruelly at the scene. It was also at this moment that Sora and Kairi finally arrived at the station plaza.

Cassius began to laugh all the louder.

"Perfect!" He declared, his lyrical voice booming across the plaza. "It seems all the needed players have gathered together!" His eyes danced about, looking at Kairi, then Sora, then Dayne. "I wonder who will be lost this time around?" He spread his arms wide, as if inviting the Keybladers to something. "I ask, who will be the one to sacrifice themselves in order to fell the Heaven!"

"We won't be losing anyone this time!" Sora declared adamantly. Kingdom Key flared to existence in his hand. "I made a promise, a promise that I will never lose another person. And I plan to stand by that oath!"

An amused grin crossed Cassius's face. "What a heroic sentiment. Too bad you have no choice in the matter, Sora."

"We'll see about that!" The Keyblader challenged.

He began to run forward, but was soon stopped when he felt a hand clutch onto his shoulder. Dayne held Sora to a stop, before pulling him backwards, yelling out, "No, he's mine!"

"Dayne!" Kairi called out in protest, but it fell on deaf ears. Dayne continued the charge, darting back and forth, as Cassius manipulated the steel blades littering the earth. Several dozen of the makeshift swords rose up like geysers, massive steel spikes blocking Dayne's advance. Even though he was forced to constantly move either laterally or backwards, Dayne still stubbornly had his eyes locked on Cassius the Heaven, who stood their grinning while his blades did all the work for him.

_Somehow, this is even tougher than fighting the Hell. _The iron spires were now shooting out angularly, firing directly at Dayne instead of just shooting in the sky to form a barricade. _He unleashed one attack, and he has a great offence and defence set up instantly._ A spike rocketed forward from his left, impaling him through the shoulder and tearing through it. He gritted his teeth, as more blood left his body. _Okay... relax...just keep dodging and he'll open himself up for an attack eventually._

Multiple spires erupted from the carpet suddenly, causing Dayne to weave rapidly to try and avoid the. The sudden dodging wasn't enough, as one caught him in his back, driving deep into his back. He screamed in agony as the spire continued to grow, eventually releasing him and tossing him sky high. Cassius flapped his wings again, unleashing more of the diamond-shaped swords, which flew through the air, tearing into and through Dayne, drawing even more blood and sending him flying and tumbling through the air, until he hit the ground hard, splaying out in an awkward manner. He looked like he had broken a few limbs in the fall.

"That's it!" Kairi yelled, summoning Oathkeeper and stepping. "Try and take me down like that!"

"No..." Dayne croaked in protest, stopping Kairi in her tracks. "Stay out of this!" He slowly got his feet, despite his grievous wounds.

"Dayne...you have to take it easy..." Kairi chided softly, trying not to sting his pride.

The bodyguard ignored his Princess. "This is my fight!" He shouted at her, getting back to his feet again. Several blades were jammed into his chest, but he barely paid them any mind, removing them with a sweep of his arm. Kairi was horrified at the sight of this, to say the least. "I will face him alone. I have to!" With that, he turned back to his opponent. The last barrage of knives had done a number to him, clothes especially. "This the second jacket of mine you've ruined!" He pointed to Cassius, the silvery-blue article in question hanging onto his back and arms by mere threads.

"You and those gaudy coats..." Cassius sneered.

Dayne was about to return to the battle, but Sora's voice called out and stopped him. "You don't have to do this." He told him. After all that was said by Sora and Dayne, the brunette still felt the older man was his friend. "Remember what we told you back on the Garden. About Rain. We'll get through this together. You don't have to be alone."

"For this I do..." Dayne breathed. The power of Cassius's attacks had gotten to him, and his healing factor was slowing down something fierce now. Sora looked like he was about to speak up, but Dayne pressed on "This isn't about Rain, either. This is about my pride."

This made Sora stop dead, remembering the conversation he had with the "voice in his head" about Rain and her pride. With nothing else to hinder him, Dayne went after after Cassius again, launching himself into the air.

Another steady stream of steel blades answered his jump, but Dayne was ready this time, using High Streak to grind against the blades and vault above the attack. Without enough time to stop this attack and start another, Dayne was sure he had Cassius.

_One attack, and I should be able to capitalize fully..._

"Prism Chain Arts, Finisher Style: Hell's Butterfly!"

With a massive swing, Dayne unleashed the black and crimson energy wave, certain it would finally wound the Heaven. But Cassius was quicker than Dayne had given him credit for. The second Dayne rose above his attack, Cassius stopped flapping. When the Hell's Butterfly attack was unleashed, Cassius raised his arms into the air, simultaneously raising a curtain of his feather blades. The steel blade barricade absorbed the mighty energy blow, concaving inward a bit, but it was completely unaffected by the attack, which subsided soon afterwards.

_Damn it..._ Sora was feeling useless again. Not because he felt like he couldn't take on the Heaven, but because of what Dayne said. That this fight was about pride. _I let Rain fight on her own against Rosa... And that turned out well._ He looked up to see that this fight was not shaping up well for his side. Cassius had let the wall fall, and launched the blades that made it at Dayne. _He's fighting for pride...and we can't help him or else he loses an important part of himself..._ The blades that were fired at Dayne began to spin and whirl around him like a tornado, the diamond shaped pieces of steel driving into him like a buzzsaw, butchering him in the most brutal fashion imaginable.

_But if we don't fight alongside him, there's a good chance he could die!_ Dayne collapsed back to earth, bleeding very badly. Kairi started to move forward, whether to join the fight or to help her ex-bodyguard is unknown. But Dayne refused again, barking at her in the same manner as before. He slowly got back to his legs. Cassius continued to smirk. _Damn it! What should I do!_

_Dayne's heart is not being consumed by pride. It is full of grief and anger instead._

It was the voice. The same strong, calm, matronly voice as before! The one that had guided him before. Sora had never been so relieved to hear voices in his head.

_What do you mean by that?_ Sora asked her. _Does that mean I can interfere?_ Dayne was charging headlong, this time running forward across the ground again. High Streak was being swung around him in wide arcs, blocking every attack that came his way. He was bleeding profusely.

_No matter what Dayne says, he still grieves for Rain. He seeks revenge for her life, deep down in his subconscious, no matter how much he denies it. He thinks he can find closure if he defeats Cassius, but he won't. Rain willingly sacrificed herself, she was not murdered in cold blood by Cassius. This kind of battle and attitude will only serve to drown Dayne's heart in vengeance and hatred._

Sora tried his hardest to focus on both the fight, and the voice's words. _What can we do to get him closure?_

_That is something only Dayne can find out on his own._ Dayne's mad charge had actually worked out, letting the renegade Immortal reach the top of the station building. He was slashing at Cassius, but the false angel was able to dodge every attack, eventually catching a sword blow on his metallic wings, and shoving Dayne back to the ground below.

_What can I do though? I want to help him, need to help him!_

_That's a choice only you can make. A monumental choice that could affect the fate of many. To let him be, and possibly let Dayne be consumed by the fires of vengeance. Or, to assist him, and possibly injure him deeply. This is your path to walk, and it is your choice to make, Sora. No one else's._

_But for now, I must rest. The time of my 'Awakening' has not come yet._

The voice silenced yet again, as Sora was force to watch the battle even more intently. Dayne was in horrible shape, though not as bad shape as when he fought Cassius the Hell. And yet, he still stood tall and proud against his foe. The fires of passion and revenge were burning in his heart. Fear was not apparent on his face, nor was hesitancy. This was a different confrontation with Cassius than the one on the Garden. Everything had change... except that fact that Dayne was still standing on the brink of death.

Cassius was also surveying Dayne's condition, a disappointing glower replacing his usual smirk. "You still haven't learned, have you?" The Immoral leader began his diatribe. Dayne looked up in blood-loss defiance. "You're holding back. Not facing with your full strength. Mocking me!" He clenched his gloved fist in anger. "I know what you are capable of, and all I wish is to draw it out, but you are trying my patience with this pathetic showing!"

"Then kill me if you can!" Dayne taunted, spitting blood with every word.

"Very well," Cassius sighed, creating a sweeping motion with his arms. "Hell's flames judged you. Heaven's wings shall condemn you!" The winged Immortal made another sweeping motion, this one blink-and-you-miss-it fast, holding his hands high above his head.

Moving with the motion, all the discarded blades lifted off from the ground and rose fifty-feet into the air, forming a single steel spire. The blades surrounding Dayne cut and sawed through him, inflicting even more damage and staggering him. The razor sharp spire hung in the air for a second, ready to skewer its helpless prey.

Kairi was paralyzed with fear, afraid of losing yet another companion, but Sora knew he needed to act. _I'm sorry if this hurts you Dayne,_ he apologized wordlessly to the hapless warrior. _But I made a promise to protect all my friends. And that's includes you too!_

Cassius dropped his arms, releasing the razor-sharp payload upon Dayne.

"DIE!"

"Gaiaga!"

Inches before the cloud of diamond-shaped blades could drop down and impale Dayne, a single pillar of earth shot out from the ground, pushing Dayne backwards and away, and letting the blades drive themselves into the ground uselessly.

"What..." Dayne said, dazed. Kairi and Sora instantly fell into action, stepping in front of Dayne, and facing Cassius, their Keyblades drawn and at the ready. "How many times do I-"

Sora cut him off. "I don't want to hear it!" He ordered, stunning Dayne into silence. "'This is your fight'. 'You'll do this alone'. Not going to happen. We fight together, and for one another!"

"Another truly heroic sentiment, Sora," Cassius the Heaven mused, still perched atop the station. "But it makes no difference, whether you fight me together or alone. Dayne's death is but an inevitability."

"We won't allow that!" Kairi screamed in protest. That same 'fire' that was in her eyes when she fought Kira was back. "We will stand strong together, and you will not break our bonds again!" As if thinking with one mind, Sora and Kairi both drew the Drive Medallions Dayne crafted for them so long ago, planning to show Cassius the true power of the bonds of friends and allies.

Cassius was quicker to the draw, flapping his wings and unleashing two feather blades. They raced through the air and hit their targets dead-on, shattering the devices into small pieces of metal and circuitry.

"No..." Sora gasped in recoil.

"What was that you said, about me not being able to break your bonds?" Cassius mocked, cruelty and superiority once more lacing his face. Sora scowled defiantly.

"We'll still beat you! No matter what!"

"Then go ahead!" Cassius gestured to the field of blades lying between him and the Keybladers. "If these blades brought Dayne to death's precipice, I can only imagine what they would do to the two of you!"

Before Sora and Kairi could begin a reckless rush, Dayne spoke up again. "Stop." He pleaded, meekly and defeated. "Why are you two doing this?"

Sora's face softened instantly, as he turned to face his month-long companion. "Dayne. I... I think I know what you're going through. You still feel guilty for Rain's death. It must be hard for you. But you can't just go around, madly attacking Immortals, sacrificing yourself because you still feel sorry. That's not fair to you, or to us. Remember what Kairi said on the Garden? We'll get through this together. All of us. Besides..." Sora beamed at the older man. "You're our friend. We don't want to lose you."

Dayne blinked in disbelief. True, he felt very strong towards both the people with him in the plaza. But his relationship with Sora was...hard to define, and he felt that the relationship he and Kairi had was that of a father-daughter one, or that between a royal and their servant. He hadn't had a true friend outside of his wife in so long... the word was almost alien to him.

"I..." He stammered, still blinking. "I'm your friend?"

Sora smiled, and Kairi laughed to herself. "Of course we are!" Sora confirmed. "Now come on, stand besides us, and let's show Cassius what we can really do." The teenaged brunette extended his hand. "For Rain."

Dayne grinned broadly. "For all of us." He offered in return, clasping Sora's gloved hand with his own.

When the two hands met, an aura of gold and cobalt blue surrounded Dayne and Sora, the two colours swirling together to form a magnificent halo. Kairi looked on in awe at the sudden energy cloud, while Dayne and Sora felt their hands sealed together, unable to move. A great power resonated between the two, something greater than any Limit or Drive Sora had ever performed.

_When the wavelengths of two hearts are in sync, Resonance is created. A power not seen before will be born! A new miracle created!_

"_**RESONANCE DRIVE!"**_

Dayne's body vanished, transforming into living lightning, which wrapped itself around Sora, snaking all across his body and clothing. Eventually, the electricity over his clothing settled, transforming his clothes in a way traditional to how most Drive Forms functioned. The black cloth turned into the same steely blue as Dayne's jacket, with black swallowtail butterflies emblazoning themselves on his pant legs. Bolts of energy gathered over his lower legs and forearms, forming steel blue armour plates, trimmed with gold. Sora felt his hair grow slightly longer and wilder than before, changing colour from chocolate brown to a deep sapphire. More and more energy gathered across Sora's back and shoulders, draping over him before materializing into a jacket similar to Dayne's, except it was cut for Sora's body, and sleeveless. It was also a darker blue colour, and instead of a butterfly placed on the back, there was a key, topped with the crown from Sora's necklace.

With a regular Drive Form, all that happened was a being giving up their body, turning it to energy so Sora could become stronger and allowing him to dual-wield Keyblades. But this new form of Driving – the Resonance Drive – was more along the lines of proper fusion. Dayne's body was gone, making Sora stronger than ever before, but is soul and heart lingered on, united within Sora. Two beings combined in the same body.

"_Guardian Form!"_

The transformation complete, Guardian Sora stood facing Cassius, Kingdom Key in hand, golden energy running around his body in an erratic current. A misplaced cocky grin was spread across his face.

Cassius was startled by this new development, and so was Kairi, but in a different way. The Drive Form _looked_ like Sora, but the clothing, the grin, and the energy told her it was Dayne. She gave him a look that mixed curiosity and fear.

Sora saw the look on her face, and smiled at her. He smiled Sora's beaming smile. "Don't worry Princess Kairi," Guardian Sora said, his voice sounding mostly like Sora, but with tinges of Dayne's voice laced in it. "We will win this fight. The both of us, together!"

* * *

"So, what do you think so far Kalyn?" Riku asked the older girl.

"About what?"

"It is your first world. I'm interested in what you think."

"It is...certainly different." She replied, apprehensively. It was not just her tone that was apprehensive, she was currently walking stiff straight, with her arms crossed under her breasts. The group of four had been walking around Twilight Town for the better part of an hour, hoping to run into either Sora or Mickey's group, but they had no luck. Kalyn had stayed quiet the most time, intently observing the town and the people. While Ivalice had a very high-level of technology, their technology was completely different from the modern-style of technology used in the Radiant Garden, Twilight Town, and Destiny Islands. Most used a more mystical power source than electricity, and it wasn't as widespread, mainly used for airships. The widespread and sophisticated tech of Twilight Town was impressive for the former thief.

"I have to ask, our most worlds like this?" Kalyn asked. "Free of war. So many of its citizens acting carefree?"

"While each world has its conflicts," Riku began, relating more of his personal experiences. He had replaced his ruined shirt and vest with a simple dark grey muscle shirt. "Not many of them are up their with Ivalice's national wars. This place was even relatively untouched by even the Heartless and Nobodies."

"Hmm." Kalyn nodded. Edward and Alphonse were ahead of the two, leading them while they were wrapped-up in their conversation. "I suppose I like it then." She declared quietly. Riku smiled at the concession. "But why do care so much about what I think? And don't say 'it's your first world'. I'm not buying."

Riku stammered, blushing slightly. "I'm just... ah... you see..."

"Relax." Kalyn said, a slight smirk on her face. "I was only joking." Riku's smile returned, but Kalyn saw it this time. "And wipe that little smirk off your face."

"Yes, ma'am." Riku replied, with a joking edge to his tone. It was weird. The more time Riku spent with Kalyn, the... odder the feelings he had for her became.

_You're really starting to worry me!_ Dawn shouted in clear envy. _I'm beginning to worry you're actually attracted to her!_

_It doesn't matter. I doubt she's attracted to me, anyways._ Riku replied coolly.

Dawn whined in counter. _Now that's just not possible. You're very charming_

At this point, Riku tuned into his surroundings. The group had just exited a forested area and were now standing outside a dilapidated building, with a wrought iron fence, locked, standing before it. Twilight Town's Old Mansion. Riku stepped ahead of everyone else, standing before the fence, and clutching one of the bars.

"This place takes me back..." He whispered. Al perked up at the whisper.

"You've been here before?" The armoured boy asked.

Riku smiled to himself "Long story, but yeah. I pretty much lived here for sometime, actually."

A familiar voice then called out to Riku. Familiar and greatly unwanted. "It seems that everywhere you go, you run into memories of your past, Riku."

Turning about, Riku saw the one person he loathed more than anyone else. Maleficent.

"Who's this?" Kalyn asked. It didn't take a genius to know that green skin and black robes equals enemy. As such, Kalyn summoned Freedom.

"Wait a minute..." Ed thought aloud. "This that witch, isn't?"

"It seems the companions you've picked up are as uncouth as Sora's are foolish." Maleficent mused aloud, clutching her staff in a threatening manner. Riku quickly called out Way to the Dawn.

"I'm surprised you took this long to show up, actually." Riku said to his former "mentor". He then turned to the rest of his party. "You guys, go and find Sora. I'll take care of her."

Kalyn immediately chose to argue. "Wait a minute, we're not-"

"Just do it!" Riku shouted harshly. "I can handle her by myself."

The three left hesitantly, while Maleficent watched intently. "It seems you're confidence has not dampened since you left my fold."

Riku took his battle stance. "Why are you here anyways? Its very odd that you leave your lair."

"That is none of your concern." She retorted. "I merely have business with you."

"And I have unfinished business with you, too. All this time, I've been traveling around, righting my past wrongs, and now I get the chance to right the worst part of my past."

The witch smirked evilly. "I must say, this 'holier-than-thou' attitude does not suit you one bit." She threw her arms back, shrouding herself in the black-green flames of her magic. "Let my darkness act as the salt to your new heroic nature!"

"Bring it, Maleficent!"

* * *

"No matter what form they take," Cassius began, staring Guardian Form Sora down from across the plaza, "Your bonds do not scare me! Cross my field of judgment, and do your worse, Keyblade Master!"

"With pleasure!" The dual-voiced Sora replied with relish. He then turned to Kairi. "If you would be so kind..."

"Gladly!" Kairi pointed Oathkeeper at the field of blades and charged up a new spell she had been working on. "Absolute Zero!" The Keyblade fired an icy blue beam of energy, so powerful it reduced the overall temperature of the area by several degrees. The beam made contact with a small patch of feather knives, turning them to ice, and soon spreading across the entire field, encasing them all in ice. Kairi followed this up by twirling her Keyblade skyward. "Thundaga!" A great deal of lightning bolts rained down from the sky, smashing into the blades and shattering everyone of them, rendering the 'field of judgment' into a scrapyard of frozen and burnt metal fragments.

The way cleared, Sora made his move. "Prism Chain Arts, Aerial Style: On Hellbound Wings We Fly!" Two energy wings sprouted from Sora's back, letting him move at extreme speeds towards his foe. Cassius countered by firing more streams of steel, but Sora was not deterred by them one ounce. He simply swatted them aside, destroying them with powerful Keyblade slashes, and blasts of fire, lightning, and ice. When he was only ten feet away from Cassius, Sora used his newfound speed to vanish from sight for a moment, appearing behind the winged Immortal, and cleaving into him with a vicious strike!

The attack bit into Cassius's cloak and body, bloodying him and causing him to fly away from direct conflict. But Sora was even faster than the false angel, easily matching speeds with the Heaven. Cassius landed, and Sora followed pace, attacking again, but Cassius blocked the strikes by folding his wings over his body, the steel appendages blocking all the strikes.

"I am still not impressed!" Cassius challenged. "The power of your 'bonds' are nothing more than flash!" He proclaimed this even as he was bleeding. The first attack he suffered the entire fight.

"Well, I guess we should give you the full experience of our power!" Guardian Sora brazenly declared. "Hit it!" Sora pressed off of Cassius's wings, flipping through the air, revealing Kairi was behind him, readying a spell.

"Firaga!"

A huge fireball launched off of Oathkeeper, ramming into the steel wings. The flames did not damage Cassius, but they superheated the metal of the wings to such a point that they turned a cherry red in colour.

"Do you think a little heat will defeat me? Your power is-"

"Absolute Zero"

The temperature dropped even further, as Kairi fired a second blue blast. This beam hit the cherry red wings with a massive hiss, creating a huge cloud of steam to boot. Causing such a sudden shift in temperature to the metal had the desire effect, creating several cracks along the surface. Cassius's smirk turned to shock and fear.

"Nice one, Princess!" Sora congratulated, as he landed. Kairi wasn't sure if it was Dayne or Sora speaking that line. "Now, it's time to answer for your sins, Cassius!" The fused warrior declared, his voice half-Sora and half-Dayne. Even more energy began to build up around his body; the energy wings grew in size, and Kingdom Key was surrounded in a sword-shaped aura.

"Prism Chain Arts, Finisher Style: Heavenly Divider!"

Cassius reared back, ready to counter. "I am not afraid of anything you two can do! I am Cassius the Heaven, Lord of the Immortals! There is no power in the universe greater than mine!"

The energized, fused Sora vanished in an instant, zipping across the field and appearing before Cassius. With a single energized slash, the Sora-Dayne combine tore through the riven metal wings with a mighty crash, the Keyblade then biting deep in Cassius's flesh! Not taking time to savour the hit, or Cassius's shock, Sora vanished again, reappearing behind Cassius and striking him again. Over and over he repeated the process, moving at high speeds and attacking with the supercharged Kingdom Key ripping into the Immortal with ease.

After the seventh slash, Cassius was knocked into the air, facing the sky. Sora warped into the sky, diving down on Cassius, Keyblade in hand.

"Know our strength, Cassius! Because as long as we stand together, you cannot hope to win!"

The two met in midair, Sora swinging his Keyblade right at Cassius's midsection. As the Keyblade mad contact, the Drive ended, Sora and Dayne reverting to separate beings, both simultaneously striking Cassius at the same point! Like a pair of scissor blades, Kingdom Key and High Streak tore through the waist of the Immortal leader, severing him in half completely!

Both Sora and Dayne – who was still severely bloodied, haggard, and beaten – landed on the ground, soaking in their victory. Cassius said nothing, simply shocked that he himself had lost once more. And this time, they had all survived the ordeal. In a burst of black feathers, the bisected Immortal vanished from existence. For good.

With his archenemy gone, or at least another of his bodies gone, Dayne collapsed to his knees, exhausted by the ordeal. Sora and Kairi each rushed to his aide.

"That was certainly one for the books..." Dayne swallowed breathlessly. He felt dizzy, knocked for a loop after all the blood-loss.

"I hope you won't shut us out anymore, Dayne." Sora said to his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah..." Dayne nodded wearily. _I hope so too,_ he added privately.

"You both did splendid." Kairi cheered her two male companions. "Although that Resonance Drive was...a little confusing. I didn't know where Sora ended and Dayne began."

It was at this moment that Pete decided to spoil the party and appear.

"Well now, y'all shouldn't be celebratin' just yet. The day is still young!" The lackey guffawed. Sora and Kairi jumped to action, while Dayne struggled to his feet in pain.

"And what do you want?" Sora challenged angrily. "Come to balk like you always do?"

"Hardly." The dog-man chuckled loudly. "I'm here for one reason, bucko. To capture you lot. And I have a lot of friends who have the same goal in mind."

At a snap of Pete's fingers, inky black portals appeared all over, as hundreds of Heartless began to flood into the area...

**To Be Continued**

_Well, it seem our heroes are in quite a pickle... Riku must duel Maleficent, while a horde of Heartless converges upon Sora, Kairi, and an injured Dayne. And what of Kalyn, Edward, Alphonse, King Mickey, Donald and Goofy?_

_Well, you'll have to wait a little while longer because..._

**Chapter Preview**

_Angelo (Narrating): There are two sides to every story. Some stories have even more sides. We now gaze upon the lost ones, and their journey. While the Heaven falls, and Riku faces the darkest part of his past, two Unknowns must face off against a strong foe and themselves. What happens to Nobodies who have faded away? Have these two come so far, only to fade back into the darkness? What is the truth surrounding their existence?_

_Next Chapter: A Tale of Two Nobodies. **Genesis of Destiny Chapter 37: Yet Another Side to the Story!**_

_Angelo: To fight in pain, or die in sleep. It's their choice!_

* * *

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	37. Yet Another Side to the Story

_Riku (talking to Angelo): Okay, since we've already seen Terra and Aqua, and since BBS is nearing its NA release date, I think this is a good moment to see what from BBS will be appearing._

_Angelo: Shoot._

_Kairi: The Unversed._

_Angelo: No. I like how the bosses look, but not really the basic Unversed._

_Riku: I think we can assume that Ventus will appear..._

_Angelo: Assume what you like..._

_Kairi: What about Eraqus and Vanitas._

_Angelo: Well that's a more difficult answer, one which I am not at liberty to divulge as of yet-_

_Angela (popping out of nowhere): I know, I know! You see, both of them will-_

_(Angelo rams her to the side while wielding Gallantmon's shield)_

_Angelo: Not today, Miss Spoilers._

_Riku: What's with the weapon?_

_Angelo: Well, August is Digimon month, so I thought I would use an appropriate weapon. I also got Beelzemon's Death Slinger lined up, just in case.  
_

_Anyways, another chapter online. Nothing too spectacular, but I will say this. Counting both the credits page and the epilogue, Genesis of Destiny will be a total of 50 chapters long. Which means we are nearing the end of this fic, and, starting with this chapter, I will begin wrapping up the various arcs of the main characters. We are coming down to the wire here folks, so get ready for the beginning of the end, the thrilling climax and conclusion of Genesis of Destiny!_

Chapter 37: Yet Another Side to the Story

"How long do you think we have until...?" Namine trailed off at the end of her sentence on purpose. Although the blonde girl had certainly become braver over the past month, her timidness was returning in the face of her current fate.

"I...don't know, Nam." Roxas replied, his voice full of melancholy. He had been trying to be the brave one of the pair, but even his optimism and courage were running thin. An unknown time after Cassius the Heaven knocked them into the void, the two Nobodies woke up, disoriented and afraid. The world they woke up in was...chaotic, was the only word that could describe it. The ground they stood on and the sky above them was a swirl of colours; ruby red, sky blue, white, and black, while the space all around them was black and midnight blue, like a starless sky. It seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Since they had only been able to spend a limited amount of time 'outside' of Sora and Kairi, and an even shorter time in their physical forms, both blondes realized they were on borrowed time, and began to march onward into the oblivion ("It won't do us any good to sit around," Roxas rationalized, "If we keep moving forward, we'll find someone, or they will find us.").

The realm they currently inhabited seemed to be set in a weird state of limbo, nearly timeless to Roxas or Namine. They had no way to measure how long they had been trapped here, they had just been marching on aimlessly since they woke, not even feeling exhausted during the trek.

The situation was certainly not life affirming. Roxas knew that much, and he knew Namine. That she tended to get depressed and despondent easily, stemming from her captivity at the hands of Marluxia and Larxene. He put an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders and said, "Namine... We'll get through this. We've been through so much in our lives, we've come so far from the Organization...we just can't die now. We can't..."

Namine nodded listlessly and they continued walking. Her feet were beginning to hurt something fierce. Sandals were not the best footwear for an epic adventure. While Roxas's words had been comforting, Namine was still in a very sad, despaired state. Things deep in her began to eat away at her mind, biting constantly in the back of her head. These little nips began to wear on her as the pair continued traveling, until she was forced to release them, lest they devour her psyche whole.

"Roxas..." She began, feeling foolish that she even thought that. "Roxas." She paused for a long time, unsure about how to say this. "...Do you love me?"

The question took the former Organization member aback. "What? Of course I love you Namine..." Roxas began to chew on his lower lip as the duo fell silent again. "Why did you ask that?"

Namine blushed heavily. "Oh, um...just never mind." She tried to dodge the question. "I just...it was stupid." The blonde girl shook her head. "I was just thinking aloud."

"That still means it was on your mind." Roxas pointed out. He stopped walking, and then placed a hand on Namine's shoulders, stopping her too. "Come on." Namine shrunk in on herself, hugging her body tightly, so Roxas turned her about to face him. He smiled warmly at her. "What's wrong? Why did you ask that?"

The memory witch turned away, embarrassed. Roxas just continued to rain his warm countenance down upon her, making her blush and eventually open up. "A while back, I just got this idea in my head. That the only reason we are together is because I'm Kairi's Nobody and you're Sora's..." Namine thought that Roxas might laugh at her for being so foolish, but he just continued to beam down on her.

"Namine," he began through his smile, "that's... just okay to think that." Namine looked back up, confused at the statement. "I mean, it is a little odd that both Sora and Kairi, and you and I got together. I can see why you would think that. But I don't love you because you're Kairi's other, and I'm Sora's, I love you because... you're you. You're kind, and gentle, sweet, intelligent, and creative. I just... I love you... Namine-chan."

She blinked at little the pet name he just pronounced. "Namine-chan?" She repeated. Roxas looked away sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah... It just sort of popped in my head one night. I just...like how it sounds, is all."

Namine laughed to herself for a second. "I actually like it too." She smiled back at her boyfriend. "I...um... I love you too, Roxas." There was an awkward moment after the words left her lips, before the two shared a mirrored smile, hugging each other tightly to one another.

Roxas began to squeeze her all the tighter, before whispering into her ear. "Now, cheer up, okay? Remember the promise that Sora and Kairi made to us? They're gonna find a way to make sure we will be in their lives forever. Knowing those two, they'll try their damnedest to get us real bodies. And you know those two are gonna keep up their end of the bargain, so we got to do our part too. We can't give up! We have to find our way back to them, too!"

The two broke the hug, slowly moving apart, while also continuing their trek through the barren chaos they found themselves in. They still had the same shared smile on their faces when they started hugging.

After a few moments of walking, Namine muttered a single word aloud. "Promise..." It was a powerful word. Just the mention of Sora's promise to the two Nobodies gave her renewed faith after their timeless journey through the hellish realm. "Hey, Roxas?"

Her boyfriend turned to her. "Hmm?"

"Do you remember a few weeks ago, when you asked me to do that... thing, but I said I wasn't really comfortable?"

Roxas chuckled nervously. "Oh yeah," the blonde admitted in shame. "Listen. I'm real sorry about that. I was just really hyped up and said something completely idiotic. Don't pay any mind to it."

"No, it's not that." Namine blushed slightly at the memory and what she was about to say. "Actually, I was thinking that I...um, I would do it. Sometime. When we get out of here."

Roxas's entire face turned a dark shade of crimson, as he began to stammer and sputter in a flustered way for a few seconds. Namine, still blushing herself, smiled at the sight of her normally calm boyfriend asking like a fool. Eventually, the dual-wielding Keyblader replied, with great gusto, "Of course. I would really like to do that."

In his mind, Roxas lashed out at himself. _Stupid! Stupid! You sound like some over-eager skeeve!_

Namine spoke up again. "But, I want you to do something for me in return."

"Yeah. What?"

More red crept on the blonde girl's cheeks. Even though no one else was around to here her speak, she still felt embarrassed saying this aloud. So she bent over and whispered her request into Roxas's ear.

Once again, Roxas blushed deeply in reaction, although his response was markedly different. "Um...yeah. Yeah. I can do that for you." Namine smiled sweetly at him, then she offered him a crooked pinky finger.

"Deal?"

"Yeah." Roxas beamed at the childish gesture, before hooking his own bent pinky around hers. "Deal."

* * *

Meanwhile, back in normal reality, the situation for Kairi, Sora, and Dayne proved to be quite dire. Now, normally the trio would simply look at a battle against Pete as a minor inconvenience, but today, that "minor inconvenience" had become a dangerous threat for two reasons.

The first reason was that Pete was accompanied by a small army of Heartless. And he didn't bring a bunch of scrubs either, Pete had come to play. Swarming the station plaza were numerous Heartless of the strongest variety: Neoshadows, Defenders, Wizards, Wyverns, Invisibles, Zip Slashers, Morning Stars, Solid Armors, Lance Warriors, and Avalanches. Even worse, the Heartless troupe were also joined by two breeds of Hollow Heartless (this being the first encounter Sora's group had with the super-Heartless), around a dozen in total. There were the Marauder Hollow Heartless, gigantic bruisers who walked on their knuckles, sloped over like giant apes. They had brown and swampy green flesh, with a bone-white demonic head that had two large bull horns extending from the side. The next breed were the Kroxigors, massive crocodilian monsters with six legs, long, power tails, razor sharp plates jutting from their backs, and a large, reptilian skull for a head.

And the second problem that arose was Dayne. After the duel with Cassius and the Resonance Drive, the warrior was in terrible shape, bleeding from innumerable wounds, bereft of energy, barely able to stand straight or swing his sword, let alone fight off this massive invading force.

As Kairi was locked in combat against a pair of Zip Slashers, she saw this fact out of the corner of her eye. Dayne's attacks were slow and predictable, and he was out of breath from just a single slash. He was still bleeding too, which really worried her. With a quick Gaia spell, twin spires of earth shot from the ground, impaling the Zip Slashers straight through and sending them to oblivion.

Kairi turned her attention to Dayne, charging one of the more potent magic elements she used. "Cura – ERRK!"

The redhead Keyblader was sent flying away, mid-cast, the spell vanishing uselessly. A Defender Heartless had gotten behind her, bashing her away with its large shield. Before she could even get back to her feet, the Defender was atop her, the mawed shield pressing against her, jaws snapping. She pried Oathkeeper in between the two chomping jaws, but the Heartless still kept pressing its full weight against the shield, which was pressed down on her. Dayne's state still on her mind, Kairi quickly summoned up several daggers of light in her hand, chucking the Photon Dart attack at the shield. The Darts carved through the shield, piercing the armoured Heartless as well.

Now free from the Heartless, Kairi got back to her feet, scanning for Dayne. Once again, she was stopped when another heavy object slammed against her. A Marauder Heartless had swatted her aside like she was nothing, howling and hooting in challenge at the warrior princess.

Her worries for Dayne were replaced by a fiery anger, as blood began to run down her cheek. "Alright big boy. You wanna play?" She called back, her voice hoarse and breathless. The Marauder simply hollered some more in response, slamming its tree trunk arms against the stone ground. "Then let's play!"

Although Kairi momentarily lapsed on Dayne's situation, Pete hadn't. The obese lackey smelled blood when he witnessed the reformed Immortal feebly try to fend off the Heartless, when normally he would rip through them like they were nothing. Chuckling heartily, Pete pushed aside a pack of Neoshadows to stand before the staggering Dayne. Even when injured, Dayne still showed the heart of the warrior, charging at Pete as best he could, and bring High Streak down on him. Unfortunately, he had lost so much blood that he couldn't put any weight behind the slash, which affected its speed severely. Pete simply caught the large sword and batted it aside, knocking Dayne's arm aside and opening his guard up.

"Not so tough now, are ya?" Pete taunted Dayne, who was having trouble keeping his balance.

"Yeah, and you're so tough, you fat lummox..." Dayne breathed raggedly. "Picking on a half-dead man. That makes you the big man!" Apparently, blood-loss hadn't effected his ability to trash talk at all.

Pete scowled at Dayne and his swagger. "Guys like you should always learn a lesson." Pete clobbered Dayne across the face with a vicious hook, before kicking him in the gut, winding him and knocking him down. As if on cue, a Morning Star Heartless took flight, rising up and crashing down on top of Dayne, driving it's spikes into him and crushing him with it's ironclad girth! "And that's not to mouth off when you're dead!"

"Hold it!" Sora called. Kingdom Key flashed with yellow light, as it fired off several spears of lightning, which pierced through the Morning Star, destroying it and several other Heartless, keeping Pete back momentarily as well. Sora was then about to charge in and face Pete, already taking the first step, when a pair of Lance Warriors blocked his path. That small amount of time Sora took to stop, and reconfigure his combat strategy was all Pete needed, as the traitor of Disney suddenly shot across the battlefield, bowling past both Lance Warriors and right into Sora! His momentum carried him and the Keyblade Master across the plaza, eventually driving Sora into a wall, all of Pete's mass crushing Sora.

"HURRK!" Kingdom Key fell from Sora's grip, as Pete continued to back up and hammer into Sora, over and over again. He was too dazed and winded to regroup or counter, but caught a lucky break. Kairi launched a fire spell at Pete, setting his clothing ablaze, before pulling Sora away, the two joining Dayne, who was picking himself out his own crater.

"This is bad..." Sora stated the obvious. He and Kairi had positioned themselves in front of Dayne, trying to protect him from the swarm of Heartless before them. "This is real bad. I never thought Pete would mount an attack this strong."

"We just got to survive." Kairi responded. "Just survive long enough. With all our friends here, back-up has to be coming soon."

Sora agreed, but there was a thought creeping in his head as he looked behind him. _I just hope that Dayne can last as long as us..._

* * *

"Did you sense that?" Namine questioned. The two blondes stopped dead in their tracks at Namine's query.

"Yeah... I think I did." Roxas returned, scanning his eyes around the endless horizon. Just black and blue all around. "Someone's following us." He whispered.

"It's so difficult being a seeker when your target can sense you." Roxas and Namine whipped around quickly, seeing that the presence they felt was Ramziel, the tall, scythe-wielding Immortal. The weapon-in-question was already drawn and at the ready. "But I will bemoan that fact less, since I have finally caught up with you two."

On instinct, Roxas and Namine jumped a step back, summoning their Keyblades, Roxas now armed with Oblivion and Bond of Flames, Namine still wielding Blooming Radiance. "So...you come to pick up Kaiser's scraps?" Roxas teased the menacing cloaked hunter. Ramziel sneered in response.

"Hardly. I'm just here to do my job."

"And what might that be?" Roxas returned out of curiosity.

"I specialize in being able to traverse different realms. Like this place." He gestured to the open-ended chaos all around them. "This is what is known as a Severed Realm, a pocket dimension existing in gaps between the other, proper, major Realms. I was sent here because of an anomaly detected inside this specific pocket; to find that anomaly and eliminate it." The tan-skinned Immortal then began to twirl his scythe about. "And here I come across you two. Although, I must admit, I am surprised you survived being hurled in my void."

"We've survived much worse than that, Ramziel." Namine quipped.

Ramziel grinned under his face-mask. "Well, I assure you that you will not survive an encounter with me." Ramziel then charged like a lightning-bolt, swinging his scythe as he did. Namine and Roxas both managed to jump to the side to avoid the charge, as the Immortal skidded to a hault.

"Scythes. It had to be scythes..." Namine muttered, shaking her head. "I hate scythes."

"We all do." Roxas grunted. "Let's just finish this guy off quickly!"

"Firaga!"

"Blizzaga!"

A blast of fire and a barrage of ice were shot from the Keyblades, but Ramziel showed no fear to the magical attacks.

"How...pedestrian. Let me show you an attack with true power behind it. Void Aura!"

A ghostly purple aura flared up and around Ramziel, shrouding him in a ghastly energy. The fireball and ice crystals raced through the air, permeating the energy barrier Ramziel summoned, but that's about all. As soon as the magic blasts came in contact with the Void Aura, the attack dissipated into nothingness!

"What?" Roxas gasped in disbelief.

"Oh, that's nothing." Ramziel chuckled at the blonde's response. "Behold. Void Wave!" The Immortal slammed the butt of his scythe down on the ground, unleashing a massive shockwave throughout the area. The blast traveled far too fast for either Keyblader to react, rocking their bodies with suck violent force that they could feel their bones rattle and organs shake. The wave launched them off of their feet, sending them flying backwards and crashing down hard. "Had enough yet? Because that was pathetic! I never thought you would go down so easily!"

Roxas was struggling to get to his feet. "How did he get so strong?" He wondered aloud. The world was spinning. The blonde's head had crashed right into the surface of the Severed Realm.

Fast as a hiccup, Ramziel warped right in front of the weakened ex-Nobody. "Oh it's rather simple." Ramziel began, his voice full of a casual superiority. He the proceeded to snatch Roxas by the collar of his jacket and picked him up effortlessly. "Not only can I easily traverse these Realms, I draw all of my power from the energies in these gaps." Roxas's eyes shot wide open. "To put it simply, my strength is at it's zenith while I fight in here!"

With no time to react, Roxas was hurled into the air like a lawn dart, with Ramziel following shortly after. Overtaking Roxas in the air, Ramziel reared back his scythe.

"Light Screen!" From the ground, Namine called upon her wall of condensed light energy, a golden film appearing over Roxas. Even though Ramziel could no long slash through Roxas, the force of the scythe striking the barrier was enough to send Roxas diving downward, actually colliding with Namine upon impact, sending the two lost Keybladers sprawling to the ground yet again.

Ramziel sneered again at the sight of the downed Nobodies. "What a waste." He shook his head, disappointed, scowling at his enemies. He then cocked an eyebrow, as the two once again strained to get back to their feet. "At least your tenacity hasn't abandoned you. I wish the same could be said of your fighting skills." Ramziel dropped back down to the surface, stalking around his foes, scythe at the ready at all times.

"But one must question be asked. Why do you fight with such vigour? Surely you must understand the gravity of your situation. Trapped within a Severed Realm, no way to exit. Even if you two could use the Corridors of Darkness, such manners of transport will not work here. You are sealed away. Forever. Even if you defeat me, it will change nothing. So I ask you what is better: Dieing here, in a slow, agonizing death, or for me to end your existence with one, quick stroke?"

After one, long, silent moment. An agonizingly silent moment, Namine of all people was the one to decry Ramziel in defiance. "Not going to happen." She declared through clenched teeth. She was bleeding from her bottom lip. "Doing what you ask, that would mean giving up entirely, and I've come too far to do that." Ramziel looked surprised that it was the girl who was talking back. Even Roxas looked surprised at the normally meek and reserved Namine, who was now full of fire and passion. "Throughout my existence, I've been treated like a monster, nothing more than a puppet and a pawn to everyone who's come across me." She then looked back at Roxas, with a shy and coy smile on her face. When she returned to speaking, her voice grew quieter, but still as passionate as before. "Then I met people who care about me. People who actually want to be with me, want to help me, people that love me unconditionally, regardless of who I am or what I've done. To give up now, after I have come so far, would be to give up on everyone else, to slap them! I'm tired of being the pawn Ramziel, today is the day I fight for my existence!"

Standing behind her, Roxas was nearly speechless by Namine's admission. The passion, the fire, the determination, the confidence... It was so unlike Namine, but it was a welcomed changed to be sure. "Namine..."

Ramziel just continued to scowl and sneer. "It seems that you've inherited your other's fire." Roxas shot back to his feet, taking a place right next to his girlfriend.

"You heard her Ramziel!" He shouted, trying to mimic the confidence she had just exuded. "We're not going to back down. We have people waiting for us, and we're not going to let them down!"

A dark grin crossed the Immortal's face. "Sadly, that is not a choice you can make." He reared his scythe back, ready to hit the finishing blow on the the two Nobodies.

But that blow never came, as Roxas and Namine could only see a flash of blinding light before them, taking the world away from them. Or, maybe, taking them away from the world. The next thing they knew was that they were falling down a black pit, slowly descending through a dimly lit space. Eventually, they found themselves hitting solid ground, which was black like the space around them. The two also noticed that they stood a distance away from each other when before they were standing right next to each other, but they didn't have time to process that fact. The blackness they were standing on slowly began to flake away, the darkness peeling off the surface of where they stood, like birds taking flight at the slightest disturbance. As the darkness receded, it revealed their secret. Roxas and Namine had dived down into their hearts, standing atop the stained-glass pillars that marked the Dive into the Heart. They both stood on their own individual pillars, which were separated by a small amount of space between them.

Roxas's was orange in colour, and depicted a portrait of the two sides of him. The first was him in his street clothes, facing forward and spread-eagle, while the other was Roxas in his Organization cloak, standing behind the other Roxas, looking away and standing at a loose stance of attention. The outer rim of his panel featured the x-shaped pendant from his jacket. Namine's mural was coloured sky blue, and depicted her sitting in the White Room of the Old Mansion, happily drawing away in her sketch book, while her outer rim was full of the crown-shaped cards used in Castle Oblivion. Surrounding the portraits of the two blonde Nobodies-turned-Keybladers were a series of bubbles, each one capturing the image of a friend or ally, all important to them or to their others. Axel, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and Dayne. Unique to Roxas's panel were bubble containing Pence, Hayner, and Olette. Roxas and Namine were also featured on the other's mural, being the rightmost image, and sealed in a heart as opposed to a circle.

"Roxas, why are we here?" Namine asked. Although she never experienced a Dive before, she knew what it was. DiZ frequently mentioned his talks with King Mickey on such matters. "How are we here, if we don't have hearts?"

Roxas was as clueless as she was. "I...I don't know."

"_The time has come. For your rebirth, and your awakening."_

"Who's there?" Roxas asked at the sound of the spectral voice. It didn't even seem to be a tangible sound, possessing no distinct qualities whatsoever. It was as if it nothing but echoes within their minds.

"_You two have been chosen. To wield a great power. To be a bearer of great destiny... But, like all things, you have a choice in the matter."_

"A choice?" Namine asked.

"_To accept this power, or to refute it. Before you make your choice, you must consider. You may deny this destiny of yours, and if so, then you will fade away and die here and now. But, if you do chose to take it, then you will live on, but you will suffer through great trials, pain, and tragedy. That is your choice. To die without worry, or to live on, and possibly suffer a cruel destiny, full of pain and sadness."_

Namine almost laughed at the so-called "choice" presented by this disembodied voice. For it was no choice at all. "I accept you offer!" She declared to where she thought the voice came from, the sky. "I don't care how much pain I have to endure. If it means I can continue on living, that I can see my friends again and be with them, then of course I accept."

"Me too!" Roxas voiced. "Pain and sadness... I will be worth it if I'm with Namine the whole way through!"

"_Very well. You have made your choice. Now, go forth, and carved out your own path of destiny."_

Descending from the blackness above them came two orbs of bright light, one for Roxas, one for Namine. Roxas's was a swirling mass of black and silver, both colours evenly distributed in the sphere. Namine's sphere was bright as well, almost coloured an off-white or very light grey. Surrounding the sphere were a link of astral chains, coloured sky blue, and hovering around it, as if to bind the orb's power.

The two looked at each other, seeing they shared similar looks. Looks of sheer confidence, will, and desire. They nodded at one another, before turning to their orbs, clutching the offer within their hands, before returning to reality.

To Ramziel, all of this happened in a instance, and it only appeared as if a bright nimbus of light surrounded Roxas and Namine, coloured gold and blue respectively. "What might this be..."

When the light subsided, it revealed Roxas and Namine once again, except the two had undergone some changes after the Dive. For starters, their clothing had changed. Roxas's attire was mostly untouched, his pants, shoes, and accessories were the same, but he had still gained some new threads. He wore a dark red, high-collared dress shirt, with short sleeves, and had also gained a pendant somewhat similar to Sora's, except his had the x-shaped token from his old zipper in place of a crown. Over his shirt, he was wearing a black leather jacket, with three white lines running up and down each arm. Stitched on the back of the jacket in silver thread was the image of the Oathkeeper and Oblivion Keyblades, crossed over the Organization's symbol.

Namine's change of attire was much more drastic, her entire outfit being transformed. The sandals were replaced by a pair of shoes similar to Kairi's, except done in a pastel blue. Her dressed was replaced by a two-piece ensemble. First, a pair of sky blue bell-bottom pants covered her legs, while she was also wearing a top that covered her from her collar to her hips, leaving her arms bare. The front of the top was white, with two short stripes of black running down along her stomach, while it was black on the back, with two white stripes running down at the same spot. Sleeves that were detached from her top covered her arms, coloured white with a ring of blue stars along the band at the top, and hemmed with a triangular shaped endings at the bottom near her hands. Sky blue gloves were wrapped around her hands, each bearing a golden crescent moon on the palm, and the entire outfit was topped off with small, blue crystal earrings within her ear lobes.

But Roxas and Namine's transformation didn't just necessitate a change in attire. It had also granted them new, upgraded Keyblades. Roxas still held two Keyblades, holding Bond of Flames in his off-hand, but Oblivion had transformed into a new form. The blade was silver from the hilt to the blade to the teeth, taking the form of a proper double-edged sword blade. The guard was a simple octagonal piece of black metal surround the hilt as normal. The tip of the blade rounded off to a circular edge, and a little below it, a piece of metal branched off to form the teeth of the Keyblade, taking the shape of Roxas's 'x' medallion. Running down the length of the blade were thirteen gems, each of a different colour, which were (from the tip of the blade to the base) black, purple, green, ice blue, brown, grey, lavender, fire red, sea blue, gold, pink, yellow, and white; each gem representing a member of the Organization. Finally, the Keychain for the blade was a miniature Organization symbol.

Namine's new weapon seemed to be a very self-reflective Keyblade, almost the opposite of Blooming Radiance; reserved and reflective as opposed to showy and expressive. The blade was a thin, slightly curving haft made of ivory metal, ending with a pointed silver bauble at the tip. Connected to the tip of the haft was a sky blue chain, which wrapped around the haft, ending at the base of the blade. At the point where the blade, hilt, and guard met was a white floral design, while the guard took the form of white, silver, and black chains that curved downward, and the hilt was a swirl of blue and white metal. The teeth were a combination of two things. First, a white flower, blooming with eight full petals, and extending from the flower was the true teeth, three of the crown-bordered cards of Castle Oblivion, fanned outward. The Keychain was a small sketchpad with a small pencil placed across its cover.

All three beings looked equally shocked and perplexed at the advent of new Keyblades. But even the stunned feeling wasn't enough for Roxas and Namine to deny the great power they felt emanating from their new weapons.

The voice flashed through their minds again. _Memory of nothing. Chain of Memories._ Namine heard, smiling at the name of her new Keyblade (A/N 1). While Roxas heard, _The hope of the twilight. Thirteenth Remnant._

Ramziel shook the stun out of him, and glared his enemies down. "New Keyblades or not, your powers still pale in comparison to mine!" He reared his scythe back for another attack.

Namine was ready for it. "We'll see about that! Go!" Flicking Chain of Memories forward, the chain winding around the blade shone with a golden light, unfurling from the haft and growing longer, into a shining gold whip extending off the blade. Namine flicked the lash forward, instantly cutting off the top section of Ramziel's scythe, removing the blade entirely.

"What!" Ramziel stopped his charge dead, but Namine wasn't done.

"Get ready!" She continued to wave and flick her Keyblade, unleashing the whip attachment on Ramziel. The glowing chord cut into Ramziel with ease, slashing through clothing and flesh and drawing blood in thin crimson lines.

"It will take more than that to finish me, girl!" Ramziel grunted, as he danced away from the burning lash.

"I accept your challenge Ramziel!" Namine called, pointing her Keyblade at the retreating Immortal. "Binding Light!" A beam of golden light fired from the tip of Chain of Memories, hitting Ramziel and then transforming into golden chains that bound Ramziel from his waist to his neck, paralyzing him. Admiring her handiwork, Namine turned to Roxas and said, "You want to finish this?"

"With pleasure, my dear," he smirked confidently, twirling both his Keyblade about. Warping away with blinding speed, Roxas appeared before Ramziel and stabbed him in the gut with the tip of Thirteenth Remnant. "You're going up in flame, Ramziel. Twilit Blaze!"

A ball of condensed black-and-white twilight energy gathered at the top of the new Keyblade, before exploding outward, lighting Ramziel ablaze in a furious storm of swirling silver and black flames!

Ramziel backed away from Roxas, howling in pain as the flames covered his entire body, eating away at both skin and clothing.

"How is this possible!" He screamed, struggling futilely against Namine's Binding Light, thrashing about, armless, in pain. "How could I lose to you two here!"

"It's simple." A new person had joined the conflict. Roxas and Namine turned around to see her, and even Ramziel could make out the new woman through the hellfire that engulfed in. It was a young woman, tall and slender, with eyes and short hair done in a brilliant hue of sapphire. She wore a high-collared, black and blue halter top, with two pink belts intersecting over her chest; at the centre of the belts was a silver badge, shaped like a heart with a spike crossing through the bottom tip (almost like an upside Organization symbol). She was also wearing black bicycle shorts, two strips of blue cloth draped over her hips, and black stockings that stretched halfway up her thighs. One her arms were bell-sleeves, and tan, fingerless gloves, with a small piece of black and blue segmented armour at the top of each of her bell-sleeves. Finally, she also wore pointed armour boots with a short heel, and metallic anklets that had hooks pointing downward.

"The reason why you lost is simple." The blue-haired-beauty continued (A/N 2). "You underestimate the power of the Keyblades, and the desires of the people who bare them."

Ramziel was about to question the appearance of the woman, but he had no time left. The Twilit Blaze attack took its toll, robbing the Immortal of all life, as he dissolved into particles of darkness.

"Um...who are you?" Roxas questioned the new woman. The blonde-haired boy had issues with people who came out of nowhere.

"My name is Aqua." She introduced in a very cordial manner. "And, although we don't know each other that well yet, I assure you that I am a friend." Roxas and Namine looked unconvinced by her admission. "I am also Terra's sister." That got their attention.

"Really?" Namine asked.

Aqua nodded in response. "Yes. He sent me here to retrieve you two." She then snapped her fingers, creating a portal of gold light behind her. "Now, come on you two. I wish I could explain more, but we have a very pressing matter to attend to." Aqua then turned around and made a step torwards her passageway.

"Wait!" Namine yelled in yield, stopping Aqua. "We... we can't leave. I mean...what if this place is all that keeps us alive? What if when we return to the Realm of Light, we fade and die?" Aqua simply gave her and Roxas a comforting smile to try and abate their worries.

"That won't happen. Neither of your will die. You're not Nobodies anymore, you two. You two are whole now."

**To Be Continued**

_And there we go, one more chapter down as we move closer and closer to the conclusion._

_(A/N 1): Yes, it's a cheesy name, but c'mon! I had to do it!_

_(A/N 2): Yeah, I'm a big Aqua fanboy. I mean REAL big._

Keyblader Profile #3

Roxas Alleris

**Keyblade:** Thirteenth Remnant (and Bond of Flames)

**Master Element:** Twilight

**Class:** Duelist

Keyblader Profile #4

Namine Minami/Ralleone

**Keyblade:** Chain of Memory

**Master Element:** Nothingness

**Class:** Sage

_Oh, and the reason why Namine has two last names above is because her and Kairi have two families. 'Minami' is their surname for the Islands, while 'Ralleone' is their family name on the Garden._

**Chapter Preview**

_Riku: Maleficent... This has been a long time coming._

_Maleficent: Quite. I should have exacted my vengeance on you the moment I came back._

_Riku: All this time I've been working on redeeming myself, trying to repair the past after all this time. Now I have the biggest sin of mine looking me in the face... and I won't stop until I finally finish you off for good._

_Maleficent: You can posture all you wish you fool, but it will make no difference. You may have found a new power, but when you get down to it, it is still a form of darkness. And I shall never be struck down by any form of darkness!_

_Riku: This isn't about darkness or light. It's about good and evil, right and wrong. And I shall finally right this wrong, even if I have to pour my entire soul into it!_

_Next Chapter: Riku's destiny! **Genesis of Destiny Chapter 38: The Strength of the Sun!**_

_Riku: This is why the Dawn chose me. Darkness into light... From my past, a bright new future will be born! Spirit Drive awaken!_

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_Please Review_

_SirAngelo  
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	38. The Strength of the Sun

_Sorry this is took two weeks to get up. I would have preferred it to be up eariler. Sorry..._

_Anyways, I just finished watching the new BBS trailer the released at Gamescon. I believe that the trailer at E3 this year wasn't the finished build of the game, but, considering that BBS will be released 18 days from now, as of writing, this is cleary what we're gonna get on September 7th. And I really liked it. I'm already hyped as hell for the game, but the script translation seems really good, and I'm really starting to like Master Xehanort and Vanitas. Also, even though it started out as an iffy thing for me, the voices for Aqua and Terra have grown on me. And I know, a lot of fans complain about the dub for BBS not being as good as the Japanese version, but I don't buy it. I cannot speak Japanese, so I have no idea whether any performance in Japanese is good or not, so I never turn my nose up at a dub, unless it is really bad. And Birth By Sleep seems a little iffy at spots, but I'm happy with it. I'm very happy with it. I could care less about hearing the Japanese audio version in the game, but i can see why some people would like a "Japanese w/English subtitle" audio option in KH. Whatever. To each his/her own.  
_

Chapter 38: The Strength of the Sun

Things had gone from bad to worse in a hurry.

The constant gang attack of the Heartless and Pete proved to be a very effective strategy for the trio of Sora, Kairi, and Dayne. They had all placed themselves with their backs against a wall, Dayne's broken body was propped up against the wall, while Sora and Kairi stood between their injured friend and the battalion of darkness before them. But the Keyblade Masters weren't in the best position either, as they were exhausted, injured, out of magical energy, out of ethers and potions, and forced into a defensive position, only able to fend off and bat away any Heartless that came near them, but that's about all they could do.

Dayne had a mindset appropriate to the situation. "Well, looks like this is the end for us, kiddies." He remarked wearily, one eye shut from a particularly nasty cut, blood dripping out of his open mouth.

Sora grinned. "What's this?" He asked without turning around, eyes trained on the enemies before him. "You giving up so soon?" A small chuckle was present in his voice. "That's not like you."

"I'm bleeding to death." Dayne smirked back in jest. "I can say whatever I damn well please." Pete was growing increasingly angry watching the banter, while his army continued to stand about menacingly.

"Hey, wise guys!" The lackey hollered. "This ain't a time to be laughin'! You should all be quakin' in your boots, prayin' for salvation!"

"I'm sorry, did someone invite you to this conversation?" Dayne snapped darkly.

"That mouth of yours is gonna get you in big trouble one day." Kairi commented.

"People have been saying that for fifty-years, Princess," Dayne replied quickly. "And I'm still alive and kicking to this day!"

"Say that while you can, freak," Pete called to the injured warrior. "'Cause you're not gonna be seeing another day beyond this one! Heartless! Atta-"

Before the order could leave the mouth of the dog-man, the Neoshadow standing directly to Pete's left exploded violently and suddenly, bursting into thousands of black fragments and motes. Pete stared, slack-jawed, at the apparent instantaneous destruction of this random Heartless, and even the heroes were perplexed by the sudden occurrence.

Regaining his composure, Pete turned back to the defenceless heroes and continued, unabated. "Yeah, anyways. As I was saying. Heartless! A-"

Once more, Pete was silenced when another Heartless was destroyed by a seemingly invisible force. It didn't stop at the one, as more and more Heartless were destroyed, picked off by the sniping assailant with speed and ease in a chain reaction of destruction.

"Okay, whoever you are, show yourself!" Pete demanded of his unknown attacker. He was whipping to-and-fro, craning his neck all over to try and find them. Even the Heartless were on the lookout, afraid of being destroyed like their brethren. "Think you're so big? Attacking us like a coward!"

"Says the man who attacks the hapless and injured, using numbers because he doesn't have any skill!"

Sora, Kairi, and Dayne all perked up at the speaker, the voice ringing true to them and warming their hearts. "That voice..." Sora said, at a lost for word, tonally sounding like a child on Christmas. He turned to Kairi, beaming brightly at her; the redhead returning the look.

Pockets of air above two lampposts rippled – the telltale sign of an invisibility spell dispelling itself – and confirming the group's suspicions with great joy. Both their clothing and their Keyblades had changed, but their was no mistaking the two blonde-haired, blue-eyed people standing atop the lampposts.

Roxas and Namine were back!

"They're okay..." Kairi said quietly, clasping her hands in front of her, as if in prayer. Dayne gave a bloody grin to express his happiness at the return of his friends, while Sora pumped his fists, smiling broadly at the new turn of events.

"W-wait a minute..." A flustered Pete scrutinized over the appearance of Roxas and Namine, the gears (slowly) working inside his head. "I know you two!" He pointed at them. "You're the Nobodies! You're suppose to be dead!"

Roxas smirked to himself and Namine. "Pete's slow on the uptake. What a surprise." He quipped, drawing a stammer and scowl from the witch's lackey. "I suppose we should show off what 'the dead' can do, eh Nam?"

The blonde girl spun Chain of Memories in her hand. "Sounds like a date!" The two then leaped off the posts, diving straight into the mob, Namine firing of lasers of light energy the whole time she was airborne (confirming that it was her destroying the Heartless before).

Both Nobodies landed, rolling to absorb the impact, and went straight to work, drawing the attention of all the Heartless. Immediately after gaining her footing, Namine drew out her whip chain and began to spin around like a dancer, slicing the yellow-eyed devils left and right with the shining, golden lash. After quickly hacking away at a group of Neoshadows, she noticed that another group of Heartless, Wyverns, had gathered overhead. With a flick of her wrist, Namine sent her whip skyward, the lash darting up high like a spear. Once, twice, thrice, four and five times, impaling and destroying all but one of the Wyverns. The last red-skinned Heartless was still victim to Chain of Memories' lash, as it wrapped around it's tail while the Wyvern was trying to fly away and avoid a fate similar to it's companions. With a mighty tug, Namine yanked the draconian Heartless from the sky and began to swing her Keyblade, the chain, and the Heartless around like a massive flail. Any Heartless that got too close to the chain ended up being sliced like an onion, while the Heartless at the end of the chain acted as a further deterrent to the demons, bashing Heartless left and right, stunning them (which allowed Roxas to pick them off), and even brutally driving away some of the smaller ones. Her work done, Namine released the aerial Heartless, flicking Chain of Memories one more time, finally finishing off the Wyvern with a snake-like whip strike. She then quickly spun around, unleashing a hail of fireballs at a pair of Invisibles that were charging her from behind, obliterating the Purebloods with ease.

Roxas chose the high-road, facing the Heartless in direct combat. He strode forward, pivoting around to both block a claw swipe from a Neoshadow with Thirteenth Remnant and cleaving a Morningstar in half with a backhanded slash from Bond of Flames. He continued on his path, striking Heartless down left and right, before running right into a Defender, both his weapons banging off it's shield uselessly. The momentum caused the blonde to stumble backwards, while the armoured Heartless clomped forward, shield snapping like a dog. But, suddenly, the Defender was wiped out of existence when it was struck by a blinding thunderbolt!

"What the?" Pete gawked. He had been watching both Keybladers, and the Thunder spell couldn't have come from Namine, since she was occupied with her own battles.

Roxas decided to enlighten the traitor of Disney. "You don't we came here alone, do you?" All of a sudden, even more magical strikes rained down on the battlefield – lightning bolts, fireballs, spires of ice, and blasts of holy energy! Roxas looked over his shoulder and saw the new combatants, taunting Pete all the while. "We brought the cavalry too!"

"Thunder!" Donald Duck squawked, calling down more lightning bolts to electrocute the Heartless. The Court Magician was joined by his constant companion, Goofy, and their liege, King Mickey Mouse.

Pete gulped at the sight of his rival. "Oh... this is not looking so good for me."

Both Mickey and Goofy darted forth to join the fray, while Donald hanged back to harass their adversaries with his spells. Goofy began by throwing his shield like a frisbee, the metallic implement whistling through the air, smashing into Heartless and bouncing off of them, either destroying or stunning them before returning to it's master. Mickey, meanwhile, zipped around the Heartless, using his size to his advantage and slashing them to pieces with his King's Crown Keyblade (A/N 1). Eventually he came across a Marauder, the massive Hollow Heartless growling at the mouse king. Without even balking at his larger opponent, Mickey dove in with all the bravery befitting a King, avoiding a punch from the Heartless, before leaping up onto it's arm and running up the length of it, reaching the neck of the Heartless, slashing the neck and spine of the brute before taking to the air, firing orbs of holy energy, the spell crashing down on the ape-like demon. The magic had the desired effect, taking all the fight out of the beast for the time being, as it collapsed to the ground in a heap. Mickey followed up the spell with the finishing blow, hurling King's Crown at the downed Hollow Heartless, the golden Keyblade biting into it's flesh before returning to the King's hand, who then dove down from the sky, hammering his weapon into the monster even further, this time completely obliterating it.

His forces slowly dwindling away, Pete decided that a change in game plan was necessary. "You! Heartless!" He pointed at his remaining troops, while Namine, Roxas, Mickey, Goofy, and Donald slowly chipped away at them even further. "Don't bother messin' with these scrubs! Go after the puny Keyblader and the Princess! Get them and then get outta dodge!"

The Heartless obeyed instantly, breaking through the five active fighters, and targeting the more haggard Keybladers. A Lance Warrior was the first to charge, but it was quickly destroyed by Donald and his Firaga spell.

"You'll have to try better than that, Pete!" Donald yelled, charging forth to join the battle directly. "Heal!" Waves of green energy washed over Sora, Kairi, and Dayne. Though the spell did little for Dayne, it healed the injuries of the two Keybladers.

"Thanks for that, Donald!" Sora shouted back to his longtime traveling friendly, as he dodged a Zip Slasher's lunge and swiftly decapitated the warrior Heartless.

"No problem!" The duck mage returned, alternating clubbing Heartless with his staff and zapping them with spells. "Besides, I missed saving your butt!"

"Ooh!" Pete was getting progressively more flustered by the situation. "That's it! If you wanna a job done right, you gotta do it yourself!" A black bomb appeared in his hand, and he readied to lob it towards Sora and Kairi, who were still holding Heartless at bay to defend the weakened Dayne. The dog-man threw it into the air, but a black blur quickly flew over his shoulder, King Mickey appearing in front of Pete. Golden Keyblade in hand, the monarch batted the explosive sphere back at Pete, which detonated on impact, knocking the obese lackey back on his ass.

"I should have dealt with you a long time ago, Pete." Mickey challenged, ready to strike again.

Pete chuckled, despite just beings schooled by his foe. "You wanna pick a fight with me? Fine. I've wanted to knock the stuffing outta you for years!"

With Pete concentrated on dueling with King Mickey, the others were able to finally mop up the Heartless force...except the Hollow Heartless. The Marauders and Kroxigor were still a force to be reckoned with, even after the King showed off his skills by eliminating one.

"Okay..." Namine began, surveying the situation. There were still ten Hollow Heartless in total, the juggernauts snarling and posturing before the Keybladers and the warriors of Disney Castle. "How do we deal with the big guys?" She asked Roxas, who was currently distracted, as something had caught his eye.

"I think we're okay on that count." He declared to Namine, nudging her and pointing at to what he was looking at.

For the third time in the last few minutes, another new warrior had entered the battlefield. This time, it was the mysterious Aqua, who stepped forward calmly and gracefully, yet full of confidence. Sora and Kairi took notice of the blue-haired beauty, and also of the badge on her chest, noting that Terra had a similar badge on his belt. Her normally warm and serene smile replaced with a stark, determined look. Stopping behind the Hollow Heartless, Aqua flicked her right hand, slightly clenching it into a fist, and revealing that, she too, was a Keyblade Master.

Her Keyblade was formed of various greys and blues, similar to the armour pieces on Aqua's arms. The shaft was a single piece of blue metal, that narrowed towards the center of the blade, while at either end – the base of the Keyblade and right before it bloomed into the key's teeth – it widened out into a triangular shape. The guard was peculiar as it was separated from the shaft, but only by a few centimetres of space, taking the form of hexagon, arcing around the hilt, coloured light grey at the sides, and dark grey at the bottom. The teeth were the same colour as the shaft, created by a semi-circle tipped with a pointed end was attached to the top of the shaft, and three small blades jutting out from the circle.

Familiar words passed through Aqua's mind when she summoned the weapon. _The shining bonds of light. Rain Fall._

Without any delay, Aqua raised Rain Fall to the sky, an orb of glowing light forming at the tip like a beacon. "Holy!" She declared, firing the light into the sky. Seconds later, shafts of light careened down from the sky, piercing the foul flesh of the Hollow Heartless. The demons roared in pain as the legendary White Magic spell tore into them, causing the most exquisite pain to them, and reducing them to black dust, from the inside-out.

While the others were taken aback by Aqua's display of power, she was far from done. With a snap of her fingers, she conjured a swirling portal of golden light, before charging forth, joining Mickey in battle against Pete.

The lieutenant of Maleficent was in the process of trying to punch Mickey's lights out, but the Keyblader royal was too small and agile for Pete to hit. With Aqua joining the fight, she blocked a slug with Rain Fall, before spinning about, throwing Pete off balance for a second. The dog-man still kept swinging, not able to hit either of his quick opponents, Aqua dancing about, full of grace, and Mickey using his small-size to tumble around. After a lunging punch, Aqua sprung into action, clubbing Pete in the side of the head with her Keyblade, before kicking him away with her metallic boots. With the enemy leader stumbling away, Aqua fell to her knees, allowing Mickey to use her like a springboard, the mouse king jumping off the blue-haired warrior and rocketing towards Pete! The final collision was all it took, as Mickey's momentum was enough to send Pete flying back and away, and straight into the portal that Aqua created, which closed up after Pete entered it.

"That's one down..." Aqua said to herself, dismissing Rain Fall. She sighed, and her face warmed. "Good job, everyone!" She congratulated cheerily.

"Hey, Miss Aqua?" Goofy questioned the mysterious Keyblader. "Where did that portal take Pete?"

"To a prison cell in Disney Castle." Aqua answered. "Where he belongs."

Roxas and Namine followed Aqua's exampled and dismissed their weapons. "Well," Roxas began, grinning broadly, stretching his arms behind his head. "I guess all's well that ends w-WOAH!"

Both blondes were taken by surprised when Sora and Kairi blindsided them with a tackle-hug. Sora and Kairi clamped onto their respective others, squeezing them tightly, relishing in the reunion.

"We thought..." Sora didn't know what to say. Although he never gave up hope on finding Roxas, he never expected him to just appear all of a sudden. "I didn't know what happened to you guys. What we would do. We didn't know if we would ever see you again..." While Sora would frequently make comments of Roxas annoying him, his presence had been sorely missed, in all honesty. "I...I was really afraid, Roxas."

"Me too." Roxas pushed Sora away for a moment, grasping the shoulders of his other. "But we never gave up hope. We knew we would find our way back. We wouldn't give up, and neither would you guys." He glanced over to Namine, his girlfriend sharing a silent embrace with Kairi. They smiled at one another.

Invigorated by the large reunion, Sora broke away from Roxas for a moment, heading towards Donald and Goofy and engaging in a group hug with his two longtime allies.

"Guys!" He squeezed the mage and the knight, the three sharing a laugh. "It's good to see you again!"

"Garsh, we missed you too, Sora!" Goofy said, tearing up slightly.

"Yeah." Donald admitted. "I have to say, I missed you on the journey, Sora." That just made Sora smile and laugh even more.

"Good to see you two again." Dayne greeted wearily to Roxas and Namine. They, along with Kairi, approached the downed warrior. "I'm digging the new threads. You look good."

"And you look like fresh hell." Roxas returned, a slim smile crossing his face.

Dayne had to chuckle at that. "Touché, Roxas."

Kairi broke in, asking the question that was on everyone's mind. "Roxas. Namine. I'm really happy to see you again, but, what happened to you? Why are you back and how are you around?"

Namine and Roxas shared a confused glance, letting Kairi join in on the look. "...We're not sure ourself..." Namine finally said. She then motioned to Aqua. "But she apparently knows, but hasn't divulged anything yet."

The redhead met eyes with the blue-haired Keyblader. "Who is she?" Kairi asked the two. Aqua apparently overhead, and joined the three in their conversation.

"My name is Aqua, Kairi." She introduced herself by crossing her right arm over her chest and giving a sweeping bow. "It is...great to finally meet you all. I believe that Terra spoke of an envoy. Well...that's me. I'm his sister, by the way."

Dayne rolled his eyes at this tidbit of information. _Great... Another one of them. And in the same gene pool too. This day is turning into a barrel of fun._

"Well, I suppose we have to find Riku and his group then, and we're all set!" Sora declared cheerfully, standing with his arms behind his head as per usual.

As if on some sort of universal cue...

"Hey! Sora! Kairi!"

Everyone turned to see Edward, Alphonse, and the newest Keyblader, Kalyn, enter the plaza, sprinting towards them at top speed. They reached the group, Ed and Kalyn out of breath from their full-bore run.

Even out of breath, Kalyn noticed the visitors from Disney Castle. "What in the name of...?" She took a step back. Although she lived in a racial diverse city, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were bizarre creatures to her eyes.

"Oh don't start now." Edward mumbled. Mentally, he had dubbed this phenomenon "Keyblade Shell Shock" – seeing a bizarre or extraordinary thing that a person normally did not see, and with no prior way to handle the sight.

"You're Kalyn right?" Sora asked the Ivalician girl. He extended his hand in greeting. "Hi! My name is-"

"We can do introductions later!" Ed snapped. "We have much more pressing matters to attend to. That witch, Maleficent, well...she's fighting Riku right now!"

"What?" Sora exclaimed in surprise. The only time he had directly confronted the sorceress was when he stormed Hollow Bastion. For her to come to them for a fight...

"Where are they?" Kairi asked.

Alphonse replied. "Outside an old mansion, in the middle of a forest."

"We got to go then!"

"No time like the present..." Dayne agreed. The warrior tried to get to his feet, but soon collapsed in an exhausted heap. "...Damn..."

"Take it easy, Dayne." Namine said, kneeling down by him. "We'll help you, just relax."

"That'll take too long." Dayne argued. "Silver could be in danger for all we know. Just go on without me."

"We're not leaving you behind in this state!" Sora countered.

Dayne snarled a little bit. His temper was rising. "I don't need to be coddled. I'll be fine on my own for the time being."

Sora was about to argue further, when Aqua spoke up. "You all go on ahead," the mysterious woman offered. "I'll help Dayne along."

A moment of hesitation past, before the group agreed with a collective nod. "Thank you for this Aqua!" Sora quickly said, as he and the remainder of the party raced out of the plaza.

With the plaza emptied but for Dayne, Aqua, and the scars of battle, the Keyblader hooked her hands around Dayne's waist, picking him up before slinging his left arm over her shoulder, supporting his entire body mass. Despite being around half-a-foot shorter than Dayne, Aqua seemed to carry Dayne with ease.

Even he took note of this. "You know, you're pretty strong for a girl your size."

Aqua smiled in return. "You'd be surprise how often I hear that." She began to take slow steps forward, Dayne's feet half-stepping, half-dragging. "How are you holding up like this?"

"Well-" Dayne's answer was cut off when, off into the horizon, a gout of emerald flame shot into the sky, briefly bathing Twilight Town in a sickly green light. "I think I'm doing better than Silver right now..."

* * *

Riku instantly raced towards Maleficent, Way to the Dawn in hand and ready to finally strike the witch down. With a wave of her staff, Maleficent caused a small patch of black briers to block the way, snaking out of the soil at her former apprentice. Putting on the brakes, Riku braced himself for the spell, cutting through and guarding against the magical plant growth.

"Antioch Grenade!" Forming the compact sphere of Dawn energy in his left hand, Riku lobbed the magical explosive over the thorns and towards Maleficent. The witch simply created a barrier to absorb the concussive blast.

"Mhmm? Was that the powers of the Dawn I have heard so much about?" Maleficent asked, knowing well what the answer was. Riku deigned response, and so she continued. "And here I thought you had eschewed the darkness once and for all? Now you're using it against the Mistress of all darkness... such foolish impudence!"

Riku growled, realizing the irony of the situation. Maleficent had granted him control over the darkness in his heart, and now he was using in part to battle her. Regardless, he still declared brazenly to his mentor, "I'm no longer afraid of the darkness!"

Maleficent chuckled at the comment. "And it was that very same foolhardiness that nearly lead you to your death the first time! Those who carelessly dabble in the shadows are doomed to be swallowed by them."

"That's not true!" Riku countered. He started to circle around Maleficent like a shark. The witch simply stood her ground, although she kept her eyes trained on the silver-haired teen. "No matter how much you may believe it, the darkness is not an evil entity. It's just a force, a power, like fire or lightning or light. The risk only comes when you use it for evil, when you let your jealously and rage get the best of you." He was speaking from the heart on that. "I'm going to show you how far I've come in the past year, how I can use my darkness for a better cause, and unleash the new power I've been granted!"

Maleficent seemed unimpressed by the speech, considering Riku with idle eyes. "Well, you certainly have become a hero now, haven't you? You've acquired their tendency to ramble on like a simpleton. If you're so confident in your new powers, then come at me with all you can muster!"

Eager to answer the call, Riku summoned his Dawn Skates and tore across the lawn towards Maleficent. Everyone knew Maleficent's forte was in magic, not closed-combat. But the sorceress was very crafty, and prepared for every eventuality. In this case, she teleported away from the charging Riku, reappearing behind the wrought iron gate of the Old Mansion.

Flicking her staff, Maleficent willed the gates to separate from their stone foundations, telekinetically lifting the iron structure into the air and hurling it at Riku. The Warrior of Dawn quickly countered, breaking the gates in twain with an energy blast, but was caught by surprised by an emerald green fireball, knocking him back. Waving her staff again, Maleficent lifted the broken gate into the air, twisting it apart into several iron lances raised high above Riku's head.

The metallic spears swooped down over and over again, harassing Riku like a flock of dive-bombing raptors. Although, with his Dawn Skates, he was more the agile enough to dodge the spears, the constant flurry prevented him from attacking. He tried to move closer to Maleficent, but the expert spell-caster guided the spears to block his path entirely, forcing him to back off.

"I should have known..." Riku sniggered to himself. "Even a year afterwards, and you're attacks are still as annoying as ever." Charging up golden-black energy on his Keyblade, Riku raised the weapon skyward and called out, "Refracting Rays!"

A multitude of gossamer beams bloomed from Way to the Dawn, arcing and twisting through the sky, impaling and burning the iron spears, rendering them inert, before making there way to Maleficent. She only scowled at the attempt and warped away again, now appearing atop the mansion's roof. She quickly fired a bolt of dark lightning from her staff, but Riku met the spell with a Ray of Dawn, the golden beam clashing and struggling against the lightning bolt.

"Your powers, while admirable, seem to be lacking." Maleficent commented over the duel between former-mentor and former-student. "I was expecting more from you, boy."

"Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet!" Riku shouted back. He then took a moment to quickly analyze the situation. _Okay... If Dawn is darkness mixed with energy of my own soul, then I should be able to make my attacks stronger by channeling some of the energy into them... Easier said than done._

Despite his dim view on the process, Riku gritted his teeth at the sight of his energy blast clashing and sparking with Maleficent's dark thunderbolt, trying to visualize pouring his own soul into the attack. Through sheer force of will, he succeeded, causing the beam of gold energy to grow bigger, and move quicker! The Ray of Dawn quickly overtook the lightning bolt, to Maleficent's sudden shock, and struck the witch straight in the chest, sending her flying backwards, bouncing off the roof and crashing to the ground below!

The silver-haired Keyblader smiled at his handiwork, but felt a little drained after the supercharged blast. Still, he made his move, going in for the finish against his antagonist. Only feet away from her, Maleficent managed to gather enough wherewithal to summon a wall of green and black fire to block Riku's way. He slowed down to a stop and then hopped a few steps back to avoid the licking flame wall. The barrier dissipated after serving its purpose, and Maleficent stood straight up once again.

Dusting herself off, Maleficent said, "While it would certainly be interesting to toy with you, test your new powers, I'm afraid that time is the essence." Riku raised an eyebrow at this statement. "So I must avoid playing with my food, and instead crush you without discrimination!"

A burning aura of green light began to gather around Maleficent. Riku instantly became alarmed by the appearance of this aura, knowing this trick all too well. He hurled Way to the Dawn at her, but the Keyblade just bounced off Maleficent harmlessly, the green aura apparently acting as a shield. Unable to stop her, Riku watched as the aura grew larger and larger, eventually cloaking Maleficent in black and green energy, a terrible shadow forming within the aura. The flaming cloak around the witch exploded, shooting skyward like a spear of emerald flames, before unfurling and revealing the terrible shadow within...

Smoke pluming from her nostrils, flames seated in her mouth; onyx black scales shining in the waning sunlight, malign yellow eyes trained upon Riku. Maleficent had transformed into her dragon form.

"What's wrong, Riku?" The dragon roared in a deep, menacing voice that showed no sign of true gender. "You look positively terrified. Like a little boy."

This took Riku aback. While he was terrified, he was even more shocked that Maleficent cook speak in her dragon form. The last time she assumed this form was when Riku was possessed by Xehanort's Heartless. She had been stabbed by the Keyblade of People's Hearts, which caused the darkness and wickedness inside her to transform her into this bestial form. But, when she did that, Maleficent had turned into a mindless beast. Apparently, when she transformed of her own will, she retained her intellect.

Overcoming his nerves enough to move, Riku broke right, planning to get behind Maleficent and strike at her neck. He did not expect the dragon to be so agile. The black beast spun around on a dime, her tail tearing through the air and smashing into Riku, sending him flying through one tree and into another. Opening her snout, Maleficent unleashed a stream of green fire, the ghastly inferno barreling through the air, incinerating whatever it touched. Riku quickly called upon his Sun Shield to absorb the blow, which it did...at the front. But, when the flames passed the golden bubble-shield, the curved around to cover the gap behind Riku, singing him at his back and sides.

The hellfire passed, having glanced Riku and torching the surrounding grove of trees, but Maleficent was far from done. Just as fast as she whipped her tail around, she dropped a talon down on Riku. He tried to angle his body to block the claw with his Sun Shield, but even the Dawn-powered defence wasn't enough, shattering under the force of the appendage, allowing Maleficent to crush Riku in between her foot and the earth. Maleficent chortled cruelly, flame and smoke billowing from her snout as she did. Even though he was pinned under her weight, Riku wasn't down and out yet, as he proved by firing a Ray of Dawn at the monstrous lizard, blasting her in the neck. Either due to Riku's weakened state or Maleficent's thick scales, the attack seemed to have no effect other than peeving Maleficent even further.

Her talon gripped around Riku's torso, before she effortlessly tossed him aside, the teen crashing head first into a tree trunk.

Clutching his neck and head after the violent crunch, Riku could feel the earth tremble as the Maleficent-Dragon tromped towards him. Despite the intense pain wracking his body, he managed to twist around into a sitting position, holding his Keyblade up at the approaching fiend.

Maleficent stretched her maw open again, ready to roast Riku with another torrent of green flames, but two bolts of light, a blast of water, and a bolt of lightning suddenly came from nowhere and crashed into the dragon's body. The random attack staggered her for a moment, negating the incoming fire blast.

Both combatants looked to where the attacks had come from, Riku smiling at the sight of all of his friends: Sora, Kairi, Namine, Roxas (though he was confused why they were there, after learning of their fate previously), Edward, Alphonse, Kalyn, Goofy, Donald, and Mickey!

Maleficent's reaction was the polar opposite of her opponent's.

"It seems that Pete failed for the last time, the imbecile!" Maleficent rasped. "As much as I would love to crush you and your little girlfriend, Sora, I have a more pressing engagement!" A green energy began to build around the obsidian-scaled dragon, before exploding outward in a wave of energy, taking form in a curtain of fire that separated Riku from the others. "I'll deal with you worms later!"

"Riku!" Sora exclaimed in worry. Riku got to his feet and held up a hand.

"I'll be okay." He assured. The signs of his beating were showing, both to himself and the others. His entire body felt shaky. "Just sit tight, and we can head home."

"You won't think you'll be escaping my wrath this time!" Maleficent taunted in her bestial, demonic voice. She lowered her neck and snout, getting right in Riku's face, and snorting black, noxious smoke in his face. Riku stood fast. "It will take a miracle for you to defeat me!"

Riku grinned back, confident yet physically in pain. "If that's what it takes..." He jumped back, gripping his Keyblade, and prepared for another assault. Maleficent would hear nothing of the sort, simply smashing her claw on the ground to create a large tremor and shockwave, rocking Riku to-and-fro, forcing him to regain his balance. She then performed a most insulting attack, sending Riku flying with a simple flick of one of her claws. The Keyblade Master arced through the air and collided with the flame curtain. Instead of passing through the fire, it was as if Riku hit an electric fence; he body was splayed up against something solid, searing pain tearing his clothes and ripping into his body. He grit his teeth hard enough to possibly shatter molars, before being ejected off the flame wall, falling to one knee; smoking, in pain, but trying to put on a brave front.

Maleficent just snorted in disgust. She tilted her head upward, and breathed another gout of flames. The fire climbed the sky, before taking the form of several dozen fireballs. Each green ball began to arc downward, and Riku tried to move out of the way, but his legs were way to rubbery for him to dodge efficiently. The flames crashed down around him, exploding into a plume of heat and scorching ardor that engulfed Riku.

The blasts ate further away at his clothing, buffeting him with the pressure of the explosions, and carving into his body like a thousand searing knives. Finally, Riku fell down before Maleficent, barely conscious, Keyblade vanishing as a result.

The gigantic dragon snorted and chuckled in triumph, while Riku's friends and allies looked on in abject horror.

"I...I can't watch!" Namine cringed at the sight of her former guardian being torn apart, turning her head away.

"You're made of sterner stuff than this!" Roxas called to his one-time opponent. Edward voiced a similar opinion.

"Get up! Get up! After all we've been through, you're gonna let this hag beat you?" Ed slammed his Keyblade into the earth, summoning metal spires to pierce the fire curtain. They simply deteriorated as they came near the barricade. Kalyn was trying something similar with water strikes, and was getting similar results.

"Riku..." Sora and Kairi said softly in near unison. It was at this point that Dayne and Aqua were getting very close to the group and the fight.

Although he looked completely dead to the world, Riku was just unmoving, his body in too much pain to respond to his mind. _This situation... it feels familiar._ He thought, before a gear clicked. His fight with Trowan and Ramuh! He had been knocked down just like this! _Dawn? Dawn!_ He called out to his spirit, totally sure of his next steps. _I need you to do that time speed thing when I enter my heart. We need to have a talk. Now!_

A second later, he was falling.

* * *

Riku always thought it was odd when he performed the dive that his spirit became detached of all physical pain his body was experiencing. No matter how fierce the injuries, he found his heart was a shelter devoid of wounds.

"What was the big rush for?" Dawn called to him, as he landed. "Do you need Nurse Dawn to kiss your wounds all better?"

"I'm not playing around, Dawn." He said quickly. "I need to get stronger."

"You want to get stronger? Then go pump iron at the gym." She joked in a sarcastically sweet manner.

Riku wasn't in the mood for a joke. "This is serious! If we're suppose to be partners, draw strength from one another, then I need you to give me that power. I'm in danger – all of my friends are in danger without it!"

"You know the rules." Dawn offered, not to Riku's liking. "My hands are-"

"I don't have time for your quirks!" Riku snapped at the Spirit. "I told you. I need power!"

Dawn's smile faded, her silver eyes taking a hard glare at Riku. She crossed her arms and stared him down. "Power is no good if it's just given. Like everything worth while in life, you have to work to get power." Riku was always taken aback when the normally bubbly Dawn gave such sage advice.

"I..." Riku shook his head. "I don't have time to-"

Dawn floated right next to her partner. "You have all the time in the world." She assured him. The golden-haired girl placed her hands on Riku's shoulders, and gave him a quick, sudden rub. "Just calm down, stop talking, and think. Think back to me and our fights."

Although he found the phrase 'our fights' a little odd, Riku listened to the advice and took a few calming breaths, before thinking back over the past little while with Dawn. _Okay..._ He shut his eyes. For some reason, this simple act always helped him clarity-wise. _I first met Dawn back on Neverland. And I...or, we have, I guess, have had...four fights since then. Josef, Trowan, Vaniele, and that skirmish we had against one another._ Good. He was making some kind of progress. _Eliminate the Josef fight, since I kicked his ass. And get rid of the Vaniele fight, since she kicked my ass and that was really Kalyn's battle. That brings us to two fights... versus Trowan, where I got that weird power boost, and versus Dawn where I became powerless._

_When I faced Dawn, all of my Dawn powers failed me. And when I fought Trowan, they were stronger than ever._ This had to be what he was looking for. It was the only thing that made slowly went through the process of fighting Trowan, the steps the battle took. First, he and Trowan dueled with weapons, and then Trowan summoned Ramuh, knocking Riku out briefly. He then spoke with Dawn, who reassured him about fighting Trowan, and his uneasiness of using his Dawn powers against a non-evil fighter. Then, he returned to the real world, and his Dawn powers became stronger than ever before.

_What's the connection? Where is this disconnect between losing my powers while fighting Dawn and getting stronger fighting Trowan after Dawn helped..._

He opened his eyes. "I...I think I know, now Dawn." The floating Spirit perked up at the sound of Riku's voice, now full of clarity and calm. "I should have known. We're partners. So...my strength increases, when we work together, right?"

"In simple terms, yes!" Dawn nodded cheerfully, hovering around the back of Riku. "It's more complicated than just working together, but you have the basic idea. When our hearts, our desires, our feelings are aligned on the same 'wavelength', you become progressively stronger the stronger the alignment is." Dawn studied Riku's face, certain he was understanding her explanation. "So, when you fought me, the conflict created a disconnect between you and I, sapping you of your strength. Conversely, when you fought Trowan, you willingly accepted my advice, pushing aside your own fears and insecurities in doing so. It was a small bond, but it still gave you a bit of a boost." She then spun about, ending up a few feet ahead of Riku, facing him, "Understand?"

"Yeah. I think I do." Riku said, a problem arising in his mind. "But...how are we suppose to... connect now? You know, to give me enough power to beat Maleficent?"

Dawn thought, placing a finger on her chin in doing so, assuming another cute pose. "Well... we could do something that symbolizes a bond." A mischievous grin spread across her face, but she quickly tempered her enthusiasm. "Maybe...how about a kiss?"

Riku's face nearly fell off. "W-what?"

"Oh, don't be such a kid about it." Dawn giggled, waving her hand dismissively. "It's just a kiss. It doesn't mean we're in love or dating or anything (...not yet...). I mean, I'm sure you've kissed your mother or another family member before. That doesn't mean anything besides filial love. Same thing if you kissed a girl during a game, or on a dare, or in a play. Haven't you done anything like that before?"

Riku blushed a little, backing away nervously. "Well, I did play spin-the-bottle, and – " He shook his head. "That's not the point! It's just..." He looked at Dawn, who just blinked at him with her bright, mercurial eyes. "I... Alright Dawn," he finally conceded in a low voice. "Let's do this."

Inside, Dawn was about to burst in jubilation, but she managed to keep herself composed. The Keyblade Spirit shut her eyes, and offered her lips to Riku, for him to make the move. Unsure of himself in this situation, Riku just went for the gusto, closing his eyes as well, leaning in, and locking his lips with her own, and actually enjoying the sensation of her soft, plump, warm lips. He was quite content just keeping the kiss at this.

Dawn though...she wasn't going to let this moment pass. She snatched Riku by his collar and pulled the white-haired boy into a deeper kiss, pressing their bodies against one another, running her fingers through his long hair, and hooking one of her legs around Riku's. Dawn was enjoying the warmth of Riku's body against hers, even though Riku was struggling (only a little bit though), and she decided to extend her pleasure even further, trying to wedge her tongue into Riku's mouth. This crossed the line though, as Riku quickly pushed off Dawn, breaking the kiss, and leaving the Spirit flushed and ebullient.

"Ooh...Oh my...!" Dawn cooed and giggled. "...You're a great kisser Riku..."

While Dawn was wrapped up in her own world, Riku looked himself over, checking every part of his being to see if something had changed after the kiss. In short, nothing had (except that Riku felt like he had been slightly violated). "Dawn...nothing has changed."

"What?" Dawn tilted her head, before realizing what he meant. "Oh yeah. I knew nothing would happen. I just wanted to see if I could get a kiss."

"What?"

Dawn began to sway her body back and forth, arms held in front of her body as she continued to coo and praise and swoon. "And boy oh boy, what a kiss! Sigh!"

"Are you kidding me!" Riku roared, actually startling Dawn and causing her to nearly keel over. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be getting mad at you, but my friends are in mortal danger and all you care about is getting a kiss from me?" He stomped on the platform, cursing under his breath. "What is wrong with you, Dawn? Why the hell are you so obsessed with me!"

Dawn didn't reply immediately, instead, the Spirit seemed to shrink in on herself, growing embarrassed at her prior actions. Riku quickly grew ashamed as well, feeling bad for snapping at the girl so violently. He went to apologize, speaking softly, "Dawn, listen, I-"

"I do it because I care about you. You're a great person." Dawn answered quietly. Her body language had changed from open and confident, to very small and self-aware. Her shame was still visible. "I know this may sound crazy, but... I've been watching you. For some time. I've seen you grow from a whiny, egotistical, jealous little kid, into this caring, noble, courageous young man." She blushed visibly and turned away from Riku, who was stunned speechless. "Why am I obsessed with you? 'Cause...you're you! I mean, just look at you!" She then began to ramble in a typical Dawn fashion. "You've got beautiful hair, and shining eyes, a great smile. And those muscles! Mm-hmm! I tell ya, sometimes I have dreams and I-"

"Dawn..."

"Sorry. You know me." She scratched the back of her head, blushing cutely. "But, even get rid of all that superficial stuff... you're such a self-sacrificing person. You set yourself on this path of redemption, to right all the wrongs in the past, regardless of what happens to yourself. You put everyone before yourself, so dedicated to your friends and protecting them... How could I not like you, obsess over you?"

Dawn then touched down to the ground, walking over to Riku. But her face was not possessed of its normal cute, flirtatious quality. Her silver eyes met Riku's own aqua ones, sparks of determination being drawn from the contact, a thin smile appearing on Dawn's face. "Riku...you can defend your friends all you want, but you do so at the cost of yourself. You need to take care of yourself." Dawn extended her gloved hand to Riku. "You can protect your friends, and I will protect you. Let me be your guardian angel, Riku."

Riku looked between his partner's face and her hand, making Dawn nervous that he would deny her offer. Soon though, Riku broke out in a wide smile, accepting Dawn's hand in hearty shake.

"Of course Dawn." Riku said, brightly and confidently. Unbeknown to the Keyblader and Spirit, a shining gold nimbus was rising off of the edge of the platform, blanketing the two in a heavenly light. "You're... odd, to say the least. And I don't completely trust you intentions with me, but... when you break it all down, we're the same kind of people. We want the same thing." The light had become so bright, that the entire black void surrounding the platform was illuminated by it.

Dawn smiled. "Thank you Riku-kun..." Dawn began to glow brighter and brighter, matching the aura in luminescence.

"Now...let's show Maleficent that miracle!"

* * *

Maleficent snatched Riku (who was know deep in meditation within his heart) in her right talon. She then turned to her fire screen, and willed it to cease to exist, opening the way to the remainder of the party. Sora, Kairi, Mickey, and Kalyn were the first through, Keyblades at the ready.

"Let him go Maleficent!" Sora called at the dragon, brandishing Kingdom Key with all the ferocity he could muster. She only snorted at the threat. "I defeated you once before, I can do it again!"

The dragon barked in laughter, smoke flowing out of her snout. "Yes. You may have felled me once, Sora. But it is truly amazing what proper motivation can do to a person in a fight."

"What does that mean?" Kairi asked.

"I am fighting for my life." The dragon glowered down at her one-time captive. "In more ways than one. And I am afraid that I have far too many ambitions to die just now." With that, she spread her wings and began to flap them, kicking up a violent windstorm that caused the warriors of light to flinch in recoil. "So while I would enjoy smashing you all to pieces, I would prefer not to gamble on my fate. I think I will be sufficed with taking Riku for hostage, for now!"

Maleficent began to rise off the ground, the gale the wings were creating being too much for the Keybladers to move forward and stop her.

All Sora could do was feebly watch as Maleficent slowly retreated with his best friend. "No...Riku..."

"Are you counting me out?"

Everyone looked up in surprise to see Riku, now conscious, wielding his Keyblade once again. He was shining with a gold-black nimbus.

The heroes cheered and Maleficent snarled in anger, ready to crush Riku within her claw. Before the vice could shut down on him, Riku leveled Way to the Dawn at her wings and fire. "Ray of Dawn!"

The golden blast streaked through the sky, piercing the leathery wing straight through! The membranous wing was shredded to pieces, crumpling in on itself. With no more support, Maleficent fell back down to earth, crashing violently on her side, and growling in pain. The talon's grip slackened, and Riku snaked out, sliding away from Maleficent who slowly got back to her feet.

"Alright!" Sora cheered. He ran up to his friend's side, joined by Kairi, Roxas, Kalyn, Mickey, and Edward. "Now let's finish her off, like old times!"

"No, Sora." Riku opposed, holding up a hand. "This is my fight. I'll do it on my own."

"Don't act so smug and confident!" Kalyn barged in. "You're injured as hell. You're gonna die if you keep up with this dumb heroism!" She then took a second look at him. "And why are you glowing!"

Riku turned around and argued with the Master of Water. "This isn't heroism. I have a personal history with her. This has to be me!"

Kalyn was about to open her mouth and argue even more, but Sora put a hand on her shoulder, telling the un-introduced girl to back off, with his eyes.

"You've got this, Riku!" Sora cheered on his best friend, as the others fell back to give him and the dragon breathing room.

"Finish that witch!" Kairi added. One by one, the others each added their voices to Sora's cheer.

Ed pumped his prosthetics arm. "Don't give her any breathing room!"

"Don't make me feel bad about losing to you!" Roxas cried.

"Slay that dragon, Silver!" Dayne gave a drowsy cheer from his support on Aqua's shoulder.

"You've come too far to lose now, Riku!" Namine finished the cheer, reflecting on the time she had spent with Riku and DiZ. "This is what you were meant to do! All your hardwork, all that time trying to atone yourself..."

Namine stopped for a second and then, in a great, triumphant swell, everyone present called out in support of the glowing Warrior of Dawn.

"WIN!"

_Are you gonna let them down, partner?_ Dawn asked. Riku smirked in response.

_Not with you by my side._ He then added, _Partner!_

Despite his wounds, Riku stood defiantly before Maleficent, the aura around him – and now, his Keyblade – shining brighter than ever before. But the dragon did not cower for a single moment.

"If you think some well wishes and sentiments will be enough to defeat me, then you must be more of a child than I first thought." The Maleficent-Dragon taunted. "Your Dawn powers are still feeble compared to my darkness!"

"They are far from feeble!" His grip around Way to the Dawn tightened, the aura around the mythic weapon glowing to an almost blinding level. "The darkness and jealousy in my heart nearly killed me and my friends, but, with my darkness and the power of my soul, I will protect them from now on!" Something deep within him fluttered about. A good kind of fluttering and shifting. "Because that...is my destiny!"

With a sound of shattering glass, the light surrounding Way to the Dawn exploded, swelling into a beautiful crescendo of multiple beams of pure white light. Maleficent leered and flinched at the shining weapon, and Riku actually had to hold the weapon away to avoid getting an eyeful.

"What is this?" Maleficent screeched in recoil of this most hated light.

The blinding rays subsided, revealing Way to the Dawn had undergone a transformation, like Oblivion and Blooming Radiance. Like Soul Eater acted as an intermediary for Way to the Dawn, the new Keyblade was an aesthetic upgrade to the Way. It was slightly longer and wider than before, the bladed wing that formed the majority of the sword was drained of all colour, going from blue and red to a shining onyx black. The 'spine' of the blade and the spikes jutting forth from the edged side of the sword-wing were chased with shining gold; the black and gold colouring representing Riku's element. The aqua-colour 'eye' at the base of the weapon was enlarged to around the size of a fist, and it was surrounded by a ring of gold, with eight golden spokes shooting outward from the eye. The wings that formed that guard were transformed as well, becoming larger; the wing on the left was now pitch black with traces of navy, and the right wing was snow white with tiny amounts of gold among it. The teeth was once a single, off-white wing, but now had changed into three pure white wings, fanned outward. Dangling off a short navy and gold chain at the end of the pommel was a sun-shaped token.

With the light subsiding, Maleficent glared at the true form of Riku's Keyblade, snarling in anger. "New Keyblade or not, you are still a powerless cretin before my glory!"

"We'll see about that!" He challenged, thrusting his new weapon forward. In his mind, the weapon's name dawned upon him. _The noble heart of the sun. Dark Before Dawn._

_So..._ Dawn entered his mind. _How do you like the perks of our partnership?_

Riku smiled._ I'm liking it a lot Dawn._

_Then, how about I serve you another morsel of your true power?_

Riku felt the fluttering and twitching deep inside him again, and the holy golden nimbus appeared around him again. Withdrawing his new Keyblade to his side, Riku formed a fist with his left hand, and raised it into the air, letting the fluttering breakthrough into a full-blown pulse of power!

_Spirit Drive, Awaken!_

The nimbus split open, unleashing a wave of darkness that swallowed Riku up like the maw of a great beast. His clothing began to change slightly, his tattered shirt replaced by a tight, sleeveless, high-collared black top made of a material somewhat akin to his Dark Mode outfit, except it was coloured black and navy with a heart outlined in gold on the front. Golden and pearl bracer clamped down on his legs and forearms, while fingerless black gloves formed on his fingers. His pants and shoes remained untouched, as a longcoat materialized over his shoulders and body, and he winced when he realized it was very similar to the one Xehanort's Heartless wore. It was colour black along his back and shoulders and the remainder was white. Attached to his coat by leather straps, were a pair of golden pauldrons shaped like angel's wings. The blackness around him subsided, and he began to levitate off the ground, glowing a navy and gold aura. Sprouting out from behind him, like the Guardian Heartless of Xehanort, came Dawn, in an ethereal form, semi-transparent and constructed of golden energy. She twirled around, beaming brightly behind her master, while two angel wings sprouted from her back.

"This is...different." Riku commented on his first Drive ever. His Warrior of the Dawn Form.

"But necessary," Dawn spoke to him, her ethereal mouth not moving when she spoke. "Though don't get too use to it. A little hitch with Keybladers is that they get a huge boost of power when they unlock their Keyblade's true form, but it's only temporary, so...you won't be in this form for a while after this."

"No problem, Dawn," Riku returned. "So long as I have this to defeat Maleficent!"

The witch-turned-dragon bared her teeth at Riku. "Is this all you're going to do? Posture and change your look bit by bit?" Green flame began to grow in Maleficent's jaws. "You're beginning to draw my ire!"

She breathed her wicked flames out in a burning column, planning to roast Riku again. Dawn simply shifted forward, through Riku, spreading her arms and wings in defiance. In this state, Dawn acted just like Xehanort's Guardian did, becoming absolutely invulnerable, blocking any frontal assault with ease. The flames washed over the manifested spirit, but never passed her, and never hurt her. When the fire breath subsided, Dawn shifted back behind Riku, letting him go on offence.

Levitating all the while, Riku glided forward, under Maleficent's underbelly and slashing Dark Before Dawn in a wide arc over his head, carving through the soft scales and drawing blood along it's entire length. She roared in pain, as Riku skated out from under her back left leg, curving around to ride up Maleficent's tail and all the way up her spine and neck. Riku leaped off Maleficent's skull, flipping around so that he was upside down.

"Antioch Grenade!" Orbs of black and gold light appeared in both hands of Riku and Dawn, before the two unleashed their payload, hurling the globes at Maleficent, exploding on impact, causing her to roar in pain again as the Dawn energy scorched her scales. The black behemoth began to wobble from the damage Riku was inflicting.

"He's really come a long way, hasn't he?" Kairi asked Sora, the couple looking at their friend proudly. Riku hit the ground again, before springing off and striking Maleficent in her snout, repeating the process when he landed on the other side of her head.

"Yeah..." Sora said in wonderment. Even though he had surpassed Cassius's label of weak, watching Riku school Maleficent like this caused the doubts to nag at him again, just slightly. "He was always the strongest of us, but now...this is amazing!"

Dayne had a something different to express. "Why is there a girl growing out of his back?"

Maleficent stomped back, now bleeding from multiple wounds. Dark Before Dawn was easily slicing through her hide. She charged another blast in her mouth, this time an orb of pure darkness, as opposed to the green flames.

The orb launched at Riku, but he just stood his ground, not even summoning Dawn to defend. "Breaking Dawn Aura!" The navy-gold aura flared up, as Riku spread his arms outward, letting the darkness orb strike him. Before it could even touch him, the orb made contact with the Dawn energy corona, evaporating into nothing from the energy!

Maleficent's head reared back in fear, as Riku charged up an attack at his Keyblade's tip. "Ray of Dawn!" The familiar golden energy beam fired, hitting Maleficent, but not piercing her. Instead, Riku made the attack a blunt force, knocking Maleficent back into and through the stone walls that surrounded the mansion!

"I...I won't let this be the end!" Maleficent shrieked in wrath. She began to flap her wings again, actually being able to pick herself off the ground, even with her tattered wing. The obsidian-scaled dragon climbed higher and higher, but Riku was not daunted by an airborne opponent.

"Ready, partner?" Dawn asked over Riku's shoulder. He spread his arms to his sides.

"Let's do it!" Dawn wrapped her arms under Riku's armpits and then began to flap her wings, bringing Riku into the air as well. The two easily overtook the dragon with her tattered wing and massive girth, reaching a great height in the clouds, high above even the dragon.

"This is it, Maleficent!" Riku declared, hoisting Dark Before Dawn above himself one more time. "For your ten-year reign of terror, your countless sins, your absolute lack of pity, I will at long last send you to your final judgment, and be absolved of my past sins!" Dawn began to break apart into specks of golden light, all of which gathered into a black and gold globe at the tip of the Keyblade. He then brought his weapon down, aimed at the fluttering dragon, and launching the collected energies.

"_**ANGEL OF THE DAWN!"**_

A huge blast was unleashed, actually firing Riku back a few feet in the air. The energy made its way to Maleficent, slowly unraveling as it went, transforming back into Dawn, except now she appeared in the real world as she did in Riku's heart, but still retaining her wings. Dawn became laced with energy, and continued to dive down, crashing into and through Maleficent! She came out the other side and veered around, rising up and smashing through Maleficent again. Dawn continued to divebomb and pierce the dragon with ease, performing the deed seven times in a row, the Dawn energies burning the beast and her wings slicing her apart even more. After the seventh strike, Dawn flew right back to her master, transforming back into energy, which was collected by Dark Before Dawn. The energy swirled and coalesced around the black and gold sword, turning it into an eight-foot claymore of Dawn energy!

Using the Dawn as a jet thruster, Riku followed Dawn's path and shot downward at Maleficent, who was now in freefall after being knocked about by the weaponized Keyblade Spirit. He reared back with his energized Keyblade and prepared to strike as he came closer and closer.

"Vorpal Sword of the Daybreak!"

As he swung the blade down, he put his entire body into the swing, his body twisting around a complete three-hundred-sixty degrees, with the blade easily slicing straight through Maleficent. Riku followed up by spinning the huge weapon about, getting two more slashes through Maleficent's body, drawing two huge gashes along her ribs and slicing her tail clean in half!

The force of the attacks was more than enough to throw Maleficent back to the ground, her massive frame crashing in the courtyard of the Mansion. Riku landed more gracefully, his new Keyblade turning back to its normal shape, his Drive coming to an end in well, dispelling itself in a splash of golden light. His normal clothing had also undergone a change, like Roxas and Namine, his shirt now very similar to the one he wore in his Warrior of Dawn form, but the material was a little thinner, and coloured yellow with lateral red bands running along the ribs. Over that, he wore a short-sleeved white jacket, lined blue, and with four black suns stitched onto the back and sides of the jacket.

Maleficent, meanwhile, roared in anger, a mournful roar, as dark flames began to engulf her broken body, slowly fading from existence and vanishing into smoke and ash. Hopefully, for good this time.

"Well," Riku said to his silent friends, "Aren't you gonna congratulate me?" He laughed.

Sora and Kairi ran up and hugged their friend.

Riku smiled at the warm touch of his friends, and returned the hug. "It's good to see you guys too." He then looked to the large party that had assembled at Twilight Town. "It's good to see all of you again." He said to Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Dayne, Roxas, and Namine. He then faced Aqua. "Although I don't know who you are. And how are Roxas and Namine back?"

"My name is Aqua," the blue-haired knight introduced. "And as for Roxas and Namine, do not worry, all will be explained back on the Islands."

"That's right." Sora spoke up, having released Riku from his hug. "How are we going to get home? By a ship?"

"No, Sora," Aqua offered. She then snapped her fingers, creating another portal of gold light. "We'll be using one of my Pathways." She noticed that most people in the group were looking at the gate with suspicion. "What? They are totally safe, unlike the Corridors of Darkness."

Aqua's declaration did little to assuage the groups fears, except for Sora, who simply stepped forward to the gate, regardless of any potential danger.

"What are you going?" Ed asked, as Sora was a foot away from entering the mysterious gate.

"Call me crazy, but I trust her." Sora shrugged. "Besides, right on the other side, it's my home."

* * *

Even though it looked as if Riku's Angel of the Dawn and Vorpal Sword of the Daybreak attacks had finally finished Maleficent off, the witch lingered on after the brutal strikes, turning back to her human form and teleporting back to the World That Never Was, ending up on the altar that housed the false Kingdom Hearts.

Haggard as she was, Maleficent realized that she was not alone on the mountainous shrine that topped the castle. Through her pain, she looked around, and spied twelve beings – Nobodies, she assumed - in black cloaks, standing about all over the area, some standing in the stark whiteness of the zone, others hiding in the shadows.

Biting back the pain of her wounds, Maleficent addressed the interlopers. "What are you wretched Nobodies doing here?" Maleficent demanded of the Unknowns.

"Do not act so surprised." Someone spoke. The voice was chillingly familiar to the witch. "It's absolutely annoying. You knew damn well that we would be here today."

Maleficent turned about to face the speaker, who was standing in front of the false, destroyed Kingdom Hearts. The moonlight shadowed his figure, like an eclipse, but Maleficent knew who it was.

"Anarados..." She hissed in reply. The 'Lord' the Nobodies had been speaking of tilted his head, light reflecting brightly off the helmet he wore.

"Is that all you have to say to me?" Anarados replied. "We haven't see one another in a decade." Anarados shook his head, before breaking out in a crazed spurt of laughter. "Ha-ha-ha-ha! Then again, you know I am here to take your life. Though that last gambit you put on was impressive... impressive in demonstrating your utter incompetence!" Maleficent made no reply, simply holding her staff. "What? No comment? No insult? Have you resigned yourself to your fate?"

Maleficent finally spoke. "Hardly! I just have nothing to say to a simpering idiot, such as you Anarados."

"Watch your tongue." Anarados growled, menacingly. He stepped out of the shadows to reveal himself. He had not changed in the ten years since Maleficent last saw him. His entire body was covered by armour, which took the form of a dark bodysuit similar to what Riku wore. It was striated like muscle tissue, and tricoloured; black was the base colour, with a dark, almost blackish, blue at the shoulders and the outside of the half-skirt around his waist, and red at the arms, boots, inside of the skirt, and running along his chest and abdomen in lines. His legs, upper arms, chest, and back were jet black. Three belts were clipped around body, one around his waist, and two attaching his skirt to he rest of his armour. His face was hidden by a round helmet, mostly made of dark glass that shrouded his face entirely, with silver metal lining the bottom portion of the helm.

"Before you met me, you were nothing but a sorceress who could barely conquer a kingdom, let alone an entire Realm. You were nothing before I introduced you to the Heartless, and it seems your still nothing! As soon as Sora obtained the Keyblade, your entire empire began to fall to pieces, as if just that little amount of adversity was enough to completely ruin you. You also failed to match up to your competition, always miles behind the Organization and the Immortals. You're an abject failure, arrogant and weak and someone who crumbles in the mere sight of a dilemma.

"You couldn't even defeat a single, scrawny teenager who has a complete lack of ability in wielding the Keyblade!"

"Don't think you can throw my mistakes into my face, Anarados!" Maleficent countered, summoning her fearsome cape of flame, despite the pain she felt. "I will not stand idly by and be brow-beaten and bullied by some loudmouthed coward who has never once bothered to show his face in all of this! I see no reason to why I should cower before-"

"Enough!"

Appearing in Anarados's right hand, was a Keyblade.

Maleficent visibly blanched at the sight of her bane. Lightning-fast, Anarados reached the witch's position and cut her down with a single, smooth slash, her body crumpling to the floor.

But the dark knight was far from done, as he stabbed the crumpled remains of the mistress of evil and unleashed a gout of purple flame, reducing her cloak, staff, and body to a pile of black ash.

The cawing of a crow could be heard, as Diablo began to fly about and squawk in distress at the death of his mistress. Anarados turned to the familiar and, like Maleficent, incinerated it with a single blast of dark fire.

"You will not be coming back this time, witch." Anarados remarked darkly. Two of the Nobodies began to chuckle in joy at the witch's death. Anarados turned to the twelve Unknowns and barked an order. "Alright, back to work. All of you! We still have many things to prepare before we are ready to strike." The Nobodies began to sift away, but Anarados stopped one before it could leave, a medium-sized female Nobody. "Wait, Loxe. You have the information on the Keybladers, correct?"

"Yes." The Nobody replied.

"Tell me, what was Sora's last name."

Loxe retrieved a book from her cloak and quickly look it over, finding the right page and analyzing it for a second. "It's 'Alleris', Lord Anarados."

"Good." The knight grinned evilly from under his helmet. "Now go." Loxe did as she was bid.

Turning to the false Kingdom Hearts, Anarados mulled the surname "Alleris" over and over in his head. "So..." he drawled to himself, the moonlight reflected perfectly off his dark glass helmet. "After all these years, destiny is finally drawing us back together."

**To Be Continued**

_Just to clarify, Anarados is NOT Vanitas. He is simply a Vanitas analog. I came up with the character back when all we knew was what Vanitas looked like. Other than that, he has nothing do with him._

_Also, Loxe once again highlights the naming theme I mentioned back with Prioscox. One person (Tidusace10) already figured it out, can anyone else?_

_(A/N 1): I know Mickey's Keyblade is actually named 'Kingdom Key D', but I do not like that name in all honesty. So I decided to give it a name change._

Keyblader Profile #5

Riku Shiozaki

**Keyblade:** Dark Before Dawn

**Master Element:** Dawn

**Class:** Paladin

**Chapter Preview**

_Sora: We're back to where it all started now. To be honest, I never thought I would see the Islands while we were still on this mission. It's kind of surreal to see my parents and know I still have to fight for the universe. Anyways, there are many questions that need to be answered, many details we still don't know about, and I'm hoping we can get a straight answer for once. Thinking about it all, I managed to realize what the single most is going to be: What will Kairi's father do when he finds out about our relationship?_

_Next Chapter: Return to the Islands. **Genesis of Destiny Chapter 39: Home Again!**_

_**

* * *

**_Please Review

SirAngelo


	39. Home Again

_I'm sorry about this chapter being late and all, and that I don't think it's that good. Stuff came up in my life, both personal things and my own feelings on content that was (originally) in this chapter. But I promise Chapter 40 will be much better!_

_...Unfortunately, I may not get that up for two weeks or so, since I'm getting BBS on Tuesday (FINALLY! Four years I've waited for this!) and my life is going to be dominated by that game. I am also working on a little something else that will appear on this site in a short while, so you might want to put me on Author Alerts._

_I would also like to thank all of my fans again! August has proved to be my best month yet! Over 2200 views and more than 900 unique viewers! Thank you, everyone!  
_

_Anyways, I'm sorry about the break in between chapter and its poor quality. Enjoy exposition hell!_

Chapter 39: Home Again

Deep within the dark recesses of Infinity Paradiso, within a dim room filled with half-completed machines, scraps of metal, lose pieces of circuitry, and other miscellaneous machinery and gadgetry, only being lit by the light of a dozen computer monitors, was the cyborg Immortal, Tallgeese. Currently clad only in a white cloak, devoid of his combat armour, the self-proclaimed rival of Dayne was pouring all of his concentration into the images displayed on the monitors. Eleven of them were display video clips of Dayne throughout the past fifty-years, displaying all of his capabilities in combat, while the central screen showcased a flow of text and data, also all concerning Dayne.

In the past few hours since the death of Cassius the Heaven, the remaining Immortals knew what was coming next. The Keybladers would be coming to Infinity Paradiso, storming the castle, and trying to stop their goal. And along with them would be Dayne...

Even though Dayne had fallen to Cassius on the Land of Dragons, Tallgeese would never count his rival out. He and Sora together had found a way to defeat the Heaven, a shocking turn of events to be sure. There was still a chance Dayne could recover back to his normal self, and the last time Tallgeese had fought Dayne's normal self was back on Traverse Town, where he was roundly bested.

Dayne would come, and Tallgeese would make sure their rivalry would draw them together into one final conflict, that would end with at least one of the two Immortals dead. That day was approaching with alarming speed – it might even be tomorrow – and so Tallgeese knew he had to be prepared to fight Dayne at his full power.

Hence all the information displayed on the computer screens. Knowledge was power, and knowledge in battle could be dissected into three further attributes: understanding, preparation, and control. Tallgeese would assure his victory by understanding Dayne, preparing for all possible outcomes, and controlling Dayne and any variables he would come across. But therein lied the problem. Dayne is a powerful foe; he's powerful even for an Immortal! He possessed super-strength, super-speed, was an expert swordsman and marksman, possessed powerful magics, could preform a wide variety of attacks with his Prism Chain Arts, and, of course, had his insane high-speed regeneration. This would not be an easy battle, nor would the preparations be easy.

"I need to create a brand new armour..." Cassius droned on, absolutely absorbed in his work. One of the screens displaying video switched to a virtual blueprint. "...Something that can match his strength and speed...block his attacks...and neutralize his healing factor..." His eyes quickly moved about the screens, looking at the videos and trying to ascertain a way to make his three goals possible. The only time Dayne's healing factor died out was when his body took extreme amounts of damage or when he was completely sapped of energy. "Hmm...but a battle of attrition does not favour me... Wait a minute..." He switched back to the screen that contained all the text data, scrolling through the information, searching for the knowledge he sought. When he found it, he grinned at the dull blue light of the monitors.

"So...that's how you're healing factor works, Dayne? I have you now..."

The largest hurdle had been jumped, in Tallgeese's mind, as he began to set out designing his new combat armour – indeed, the strongest set of armour he had ever created.

Something he could call "a Dayne-Killer".

* * *

Before the Keyblade team could arrive from Twilight Town, the Destiny Islands found themselves in the calm of summer. The month of July was waning, as was the early evening sun in the sky, dappling the ocean waters with its light. Children across the large cluster of tropical islands were bemoaning the fact that half of their summer was gone, and the school year would be on them sooner than they would like it.

A trio of teens were doing just that, as they lay on the beach of their home island of Salm; Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka. But there was something more on their minds then loosing their freedom next month.

"Still no sign of those three, eh?" Tidus asked his two friends.

"Not yet, ya." Wakka confirmed, lazily rolling a blitzball around with his foot. "Where do you think those three went?"

"Apparently, they headed up north to visit some relatives of Sora's." Selphie replied, chirping happily, as was her custom.

Wakka looked at her in surprised. "How'd you know that?"

Selphie smiled back in an amused way. "It's a little trick I came up with. It's called 'going-to-their-houses-and-asking-their parents'."

Tidus was currently aware of how close Selphie positioned herself next to him. It wasn't completely awkward, just a little odd. She was a very... friendly girl, after all. "I heard that too." The blond admitted. "Though Riku's mom didn't sound like they just went north. She sounded, rather sad."

"Well gang, it looks like we have another mystery on our hands!" Selphie giggled to herself, drawing a strange look from the two boys. "Don't give me that look," the girl shot back, "you know what I mean. Those three are always vanishing without a trace."

Tidus shrugged at that. "Yeah. But, maybe we're just not meant to know. I mean," he then gave Wakka a knowing looking. The tanned athlete shared the gaze. "There are somethings about people other's aren't meant to know."

"But I wanna know!" Selphie whined. She then huffed loudly, crossing her arms. "I don't like it when people keep secrets from me."

"Heaven forbid that you don't know everything about everyone." Tidus teased with a smirk.

Selphie was about to retort, when a bright golden flash briefly illuminated the dimming light of the late afternoon. This strange phenomenon did not escape the teen's notice.

"What was dat?" Wakka asked. They all turned their heads behind them, where the light came from.

"Home sweet home!"

"Was that...?" Tidus turned to his friends. Without saying a word, the three got up and headed over to where they heard the voice. Snooping through the underbrush, they arrived, hidden from sight, but completely unprepared for what they saw...

Sora, Kairi, Riku, Roxas, Namine, Dayne, Edward, Alphonse, Kalyn, King Mickey, Goofy, Donald, and Aqua exited Aqua's Pathway of Light, entering the palmy, tropical paradise with a mix of optimism (from the majority of the party) and skepticism (mainly from Kalyn and Ed).

"World number two..." Kalyn muttered to herself, scanning the lush greenery around her, the seaside ranchers dotting the coast, and the ocean itself.

"So, you're interested in seeing other worlds too?" Sora asked Kalyn, startling the newly-made Keyblader.

"I..." She honestly didn't know what to say. Then, instinct kicked in. She gave Sora a look and said, "I don't believe I asked your opinion, Pineapple Head," in a sardonic tone.

"Ooh, I like her." Dayne chuckled to himself while Sora blinked hopelessly at the abrupt comment. He then turned to Aqua and said, "Put me down. I think I'm alright now.

The blue-haired woman did as she was bid, letting Dayne stand on his own. At first, it looked like he was going to be okay on his own, but then he just keeled over like a tree, collapsing on the sand with a loud "oof".

"Here, Dayne." Namine knelt next to the face-down warrior and held a hand over him. "Let me see what I can do." A green glow emanated from her palm, as the Cure spell took effect, washing over Dayne. His various cuts didn't fully healed, but they at least started to scab over, and Dayne could feel a huge jolt of physical energy blooming within his body.

Slowly, he got back to his feet, and dusted off his tattered clothes. "Thanks, Namine..." He still felt like he had been ran over by a bus.

"So...where to next?" Kairi asked the group. She, Sora, Riku, Roxas, and Namine instantly recognized they had landed on Salm.

Aqua answered. "We're all meeting up at Sora's home."

"Who's 'we', exactly?" Donald asked.

"Us, and Terra, and their parents." Aqua motioned to the Island teens.

"Our parents..." Sora gulped nervously. "Like...all of them?" Aqua nodded. "Oh boy..."

"What's wrong with that, Sora?" Goofy asked his friend. "I thought you'd be happy to see them again."

Sora began to stammer and stutter his way through an answer. "Well I am, but... It's complicated, that's all." Donald and Goofy continued to look at him in a puzzled manner.

"He's afraid of confronting Kairi's parents." Roxas finally explained.

This only made Donald and Goofy more confused. "Now, why would that be?"

Kairi spoke up next. "Well, you two weren't around then, but..." She walked up to Sora and kissed him lightly from the cheek. Sora blushed heavily, as the two held hands, fingers interlocked together. Kairi did say that showing people was better than telling them.

"Gawrsh! Goofy yipped happily, beaming at the two. "I knew you two would get together!"

"It took you two long enough..." Donald muttered.

"OH MY GOD! KAIRI!"

Selphie jumped out from her hiding place, racing across the ground as fast her legs could take her, before reaching Kairi, knocking her friend down with a huge, flying glomp. Before the hyperactive brunette could make contact, Kairi managed to get out a "Selphie?" before she was flattened by the stampeding girl. Most of the group had a half-bemused, half-confused look on their faces, but both Riku and Sora were showing concern that Selphie was apparently eavesdropping.

Selphie, meanwhile, was ranting to her friend, who was entrapped in an airtight hug. "Congratulations! I'm so glad you two finally FINALLY got together. Wow! We need to celebrate! This is so exciting!" She squeed in joy.

"Selphie!" Tidus admonished, him and Wakka poking out of the hiding place. "This is why we don't take you places." He then turned to Sora and Riku and greeted them in a very casual manner. "Hey guys."

"What did you guys hear?" Sora asked, fearfully. He always thought that this day would come. When his Island life would collide with the life he had made as a Keyblader.

"Everything." Tidus replied honestly.

"Yeah, we're gonna need a little explanation." Wakka added, scratching his head. "I'm not that only one lost, am I?"

"I..." Sora was at a lost for words. Kairi had managed to pry Selphie off of her, and get back to a kneeling position, while the others just looked on sort of blankly as the scene played out. "Guys," he began, turning to the collective group. "Go on ahead. I'll explain things and catch up with you guys in a bit."

"You sure, man?" Riku asked. Sora nodded.

"Yep." He then gave his goofy smile, and took his signature stance, legs crossed and arms behind his head. "I've gotten kind of good at explaining the bizarre stuff I do."

"Whatever you say." Roxas returned. "See you there." The group then left Sora to attend to his unenviable task, following Roxas, as he knew where Sora's home was (he had his memories, after all).

"Hey, should Sora be tellin' those three about all the stuff he's been through?" Goofy voiced. "I mean, what about the world border?"

"'Order', Goofy." Donald corrected.

"Yeah. That too." Donald sighed in futility.

"Actually, Goofy," Aqua broke in. "The rule of world order was only instated to prevent the spread of the Heartless as much as possible. There's no harm in others knowing of the existence of other worlds."

"Aqua, how do you know all this?" Kairi asked the older woman. She also noted that Dayne wasn't being as scrutinizing to Aqua as he was to her brother.

"Well, you see, I..." She stopped speaking for a second, as if in deep thought. "People like me tend to pick up things through their lives." And with that cryptic answer, Kairi dropped the question.

The group marched on a beach-side concrete walkway for a few minutes, in awkward silence, before Roxas pointed out their destination. The Alleris family house was the last house in a line of many, a brown and off-yellow coloured rancher resting on a plateau just above the shoreline. It wasn't a remarkable house, but it really didn't need to be. Roxas could feel Sora's memories tugging at his heart. Seeing it and wielding the Keyblade, being the defender of the universe... the dichotomy just didn't make a whole lot of sense.

By the time they made it to the porch of the house, Sora was trailing right behind them, trying his hardest to catch up.

"So, what's the damage?" Riku asked, as Sora finally approached them, the group deciding to wait for him.

"Well," he started, scratching the back of his head, "I don't think its totally possible to dodge the subject, but I told them we'd explain things later, that we're tired and busy at the moment."

Riku nodded along. "Did you tell them not to tell anyone else?"

The brunet Keyblader instantly face-palmed and slumped over. "Oh boy..."

Kairi giggled at the reaction. "Oh Sora, don't ever change." Sora smiled at that.

"So are we just going to stand outside all day, Pineapple Head?" Kalyn asked in complaint. "This is your home, correct?"

"For once, I agree with her." Ed piped in. "Besides, I can smell something good coming from inisde."

Sora sniffed the air curiously. His mother was preparing something big. All of the smells were intermingling together, making it hard to figure out what exactly was cooking.

Kalyn, meanwhile, was finding her last bit of patience fade while Sora sniffed the air for minutes on end. "Well, why don't you knock so we can find out what's cooking instead of standing outside here like a bunch of Imperial mooks!" She barked at the spiky-haired boy in an irritated tone. Sora actually inched away slightly in fear of the girl, before doing as she bid, knocking on the front door rapidly.

Within a few moments, Sora's mother, Allison Alleris, opened the door, an expecting and welcoming smile on her face. The middle-aged woman stood before her son, looking back at him with the same crystal blue eyes he had, both of them wearing their emotions on their sleeves. Before Sora could open his mouth and say "Hi", his mother brought him for a tight, loving embrace, which Sora soon reciprocated after a brief period of awkwardness.

"Hey mom..." Sora said happily into his mom's shoulders. He missed this. While Sora would never admit to being a "mama's boy", he loved his mother very much, and he missed her and his home. Seeing his parents, getting a hug from his mother, eating her meals everyday; simplicity was not something a Keyblader could afford.

After a minute or so, the two pulled out of the hug, smiling broadly at one another. Allison then looked at the large group that was assembled behind Sora, and said, "Well, come inside everyone. We're all waiting for you and you must all be tired." The brunette beckoned everyone inside, and the group followed, the scent of cooking food growing ever stronger.

Allison lead the group into the living room, where five more bodies were waiting for them. Terra was sitting on a recliner at the far end, still dressed in his strange East-meets-West, urban samurai attire, acting like this whole deal was the normalest thing in the world. Occupying a large couch were Kairi's adopted parents – Aiden and Julia – and Sora's father Dias, who was sitting next to an empty space (apparently where Allison was sitting). Riku's mother, Eira, sat on a loveseat opposite Terra. With the exception of Terra, all the adults had bewildered, slightly frightened looks on their faces when the heroic party entered, particularly at the sight of the anthropomorphic Disney trio, the dressed for battle Kalyn, and the banged up Dayne (though Dias had more of a bemused smirk on his face than anything else...)

Instantly, the parents and their respective children met up, hugging one another and expressing their gratitude to one another, although Aiden kept one good eye on Namine, noticing how similar she looked to his adopted daughter. After the brief reunion, the room need to be shuffle around to accommodate for the population explosion, with several stools and chairs being brought in, and still, both Alphonse and Dayne had to stand.

"So, um... I guess some introductions are in order." Sora began, quite nervously. Though the parental units knew of their adventures and all the trouble the Keyblades brought them, actually bringing the baggage home with them was an entirely different animal. "In case you've forgotten, this was once Claudio..." he motioned to the former holder of the pseudonym, "he's 'Dayne' now. It's complicated."

"Don't worry, they know." Terra informed the group. "I spent the last two hours regaling them of your latest adventures. Then they had a little... 'discussion', about your three." He pointed to Sora, Kairi and Riku. (A/N 1)

"It was some discussion," Aiden Minami added in a bitter grunt.

"Wait, so that was your errand?" Dayne accused in an annoyed tone. "Expositing to the parents what we could have explained?"

"To be fair, I also bought the food that Mrs. Alleris is preparing right now." Terra gave Dayne a cocksure grin. "Would you rather not have a delicious, home-cooked meal after your ferocious fight?" The comment left Dayne stewing in anger.

"Anyways..." Sora continued on after the group got side-tracked. Pointing the individual in question, he introduced every new face, one by one. "This is King Mickey, Donald Duck, Goofy, Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Roxas, Namine, and Kalyn." He then stopped and pointed to Aqua, who was sitting next to her brother. "Oh, and that's Aqua."

"Let's just cut to the chase, boy." Aiden said quickly, as soon as 'Aqua' left Sora's mouth. He pointed a finger harshly at Namine. "Why does that girl look like my daughter?"

Julia spoke up, adding to her husband's statement. "And that boy – Roxas, was it? Well, he kind of looks like Sora..."

Not sure how to answer that, Sora started to trip over his own tongue. "Well, um... that's also pretty complicated."

Dayne held up his hands. "Before you continue on with just who Roxas and Namine are, kiddo, I want to take shower, wash away the reek of blood, and maybe change into some clothes that aren't tattered to hell. Mind if I use your's?"

"Certainly," Dias offered. "Down the hall, second door on the right."

"Thank you, sir." Dayne then walked off, limping slightly from his nagging wounds.

"What is you miss anything important?" Kairi called out to him.

"I'll get the abridged version later." He said flippantly, finding the bathroom and entering without second thought.

Dias chuckled slightly. "He seems...nice."

"About Roxas and Namine." Aqua broke in, a little hesitantly. "This is something we've been putting off for a while, but we can explain who they are and why they're here now." Everyone turned towards her, looking and listening with rapt attention. "As you all probably know right now, Roxas and Namine are the Nobodies of Sora and Kairi, Roxas once being apart of the Organization XIII and Namine herself was a...special case. And although only Namine was declared 'special' by the Organization, both are very special Nobodies, in many ways.

"Namine was created early on, when Kairi's heart was separated from her body during the destruction of the Destiny Islands. During the brief moment when her heart was without a vessel, before it joined with Sora, Namine was created. But, since the heart was only released briefly, and Kairi did not create a Heartless in conjunction to Namine's birth, Namine was born differently from most Nobodies. Her attribute of memories was much esoteric and different from the others, she could not produce a spiritual weapon, and she lacked the memories of her Somebody.

"Roxas was also a special case, but different from Namine. He was created when Sora pierced himself with the Keyblade of People's Hearts – the dark Keyblade Xehanort's Heartless created – in order to free Kairi's heart from his body. That's also why Roxas can summon two Keyblades as opposed to one, his moment of birth saw two heart capable of wielding Keyblades be released instead of just one. Roxas also suffered from scrambled versions of Sora's memories, and this is because Sora only produced a weak Heartless, and spent so little time as a Heartless."

Even though it looked like Aqua wanted to say more, Roxas stopped her and voiced his own question. "Wait. Before you say anything else, I want to know... Why was DiZ so hellbent on merging me back with Sora?"

Terra was the one to field that question. "Regrettably, that could have been avoided." Terra's downcast gaze gave weight to his story. "Ansem, in his quest to obliterate the Organization, wanted to use Sora as a pawn, knowing Sora could destroy them easier and quicker than he could. As such, he hypothesized that merging the lost part of Sora, Roxas, would make Sora even stronger. Although Sora did get a power boost, it wasn't of the amount Ansem wished." The knight looked directly at he blond dual-wielder and said, voice completely apologetic. "That entire mess could have been avoided, if not for Ansem's prejudice, I'm sorry."

Roxas scratched his head nervously. "Hey there, it's alright... It's not your fault Terra. And, if what Aqua said is true, it all worked out in the end." He gave an uneasy smile.

"This actually reminds me of something." Kairi piped in. "What happened with Namine? Why did she suddenly become well, like a ghost, on the World That Never Was."

In response, Namine lightly touched her other's shoulder. "That was actually my own choice." She began, meekly and slightly mournfully. "I willingly let myself fuse with you." Kairi was taken aback at this admission. "I know that it sounds...bad, but I'm happy with what I did. I...really didn't have much left to live for, I didn't really enjoy being a Nobody. And I..." She then smiled shyly at Roxas. "It meant I got to see Roxas more." Roxas smiled back.

After the moment, Aqua asked graciously, "May I continue?" Everyone waved her on. "Okay. As I said, Roxas and Namine are special, in more than one way. Probably the biggest way, is that they existed parallel to their Somebodies. Because of the connection they pairs share – born from essentially the same body and soul – their hearts were connected to, letting Namine and Roxas have emotions, real, genuine emotions. They were actually closer to humans than Nobodies. But, since you were only sharing some emotions, your personalities differed from Sora and Kairi slightly." The group considered it, and agreed. Namine was more shy and introverted than Kairi, but was a bit calmer and levelheaded too. Roxas was less excitable than Sora, usually a quieter version of Sora, but could also swing into extreme melancholy and fierceness.

Aqua pressed on. "Normally, a human can be reborn after being turned into a Heartless and Nobody, but only under certain conditions. If the Heartless is destroyed by a Keyblade first, their heart being released, and the corresponding Nobody is killed following that, the two shall reunite, becoming the true person once more."

"Wait!" Riku stopped her. "Are you saying that the other Nobodies, the Organization, they can come back?" Namine and Roxas suddenly perked up even more at the question, realizing what could be true.

In contrast to the blonde's reaction, Terra took on a grim look and said, "Yes..."

Before Terra's shift in attitude could be questioned, Aqua spoke up once again. "Since it more or less match the proper resurrection process, Roxas and Namine re-united with Sora and Kairi when they faded away. But, they continued to live on as spirits, due to a number of reasons. Sora and Kairi already possessed their own bodies and souls, Roxas and Namine already had a strong sense of self, and they could wield Keyblades. Or, in Namine's case, had the potential to."

"And I suppose this is where we get to the part as to why they're here now?" Ed asked. Aqua nodded.

"Slowly, the Keyblades provided energy to the souls of Roxas and Namine. First, due to the connection they shared with Sora and Kairi, their hearts were 'copied' and given to Roxas and Namine, where their souls changed them slightly, giving them their own memories and emotions. Next, the energy of the Keyblades slowly started seeping into Roxas and Namine's themselves, slowly expanding along the way. First, they could disconnect from Sora and Kairi as spirits, then, they could create bodies for themselves when they summoned the Keyblades. This process slowly should have recreated their bodies, but, due to... extenuating circumstances, they finally got the energy boost they needed when they unlocked the true forms of their Keyblades, which fully created your true bodies." Aqua gave them a proud look, before nodding at them. "Your own, true real bodies."

Roxas and Namine let the fact sink in for a few seconds. "So...that's what you meant by saying we're whole. We're not Nobodies anymore." Roxas said, slowly, the gravity of the situation driving home. "Right?"

"Correct." Terra answered. "You two are no longer Nobodies. No more are you Roxas and Namine, the Nobodies of Sora and Kairi. You are Roxas and Namine, your own people. Dare I even say, you are Roxas, brother of Sora, and Namine, the sister of Kairi."

The words left Terra's mouth, and both Roxas and Namine smiled and began to express their joy as best they could, crying at the confirmation that their long awaited, long sought after existence, real existence, was finally found. Namine jumped up, and hugged Kairi, calling her "sister" in the process, while Roxas and Sora shared a brief hug themselves.

"Before all this wraps up," Sora broke in, "I have one more question. Specifically about Riku and Kairi."

"What is it, Sora?" Aqua asked.

"Where did they get their Keyblades all of a sudden?"

Terra smiled and stroked his spiked hair back. "Well, to explain that, I think I need to tell you all about the ways a Keyblader can be created. First, one with a particularly strong heart, a person with great potential, can be granted one out of the blue, though that has become increasingly rare over the past few years..." His voice was suddenly very morose at that comment. "The second method, is through the Blank Medallion. With a strong enough emotion and desire, a person can use the Medallion sub-planted within their heart as a conduit. The emotion essentially shapes the Medallion into their own Keyblade, as what happened with Edward and Kalyn. Ed's desire to protect his brother, and Kalyn's decision to do the right thing, regardless of her own personal hang-ups, cause the Medallions in them to transform.

"The third manner, is similar to the second, but very rare. If a person with a very strong heart enters a heightened emotional state, holds onto a particularly strong memory, or becomes overtaken with a true, righteous desire, then they can create a Keyblade of their own through sheer force of will. Though, again, this is very rare.

"But, Riku and Kairi did not become Keybladers through this way – nor did you, Sora. Instead, the fourth method is through inheritance. The Keyblades and their Masters can choose who they wish to be their successors. You three were chosen, indirectly, by myself, Aqua, and... Ventus."

Sora became puzzled at the name. "Ventus?"

"A friend of ours." Terra explained. "He's not... He's not with us right now." Aqua shifted uncomfortably next to her brother.

"But why did it take so long for them to get Keyblades?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah. And why did Riku just hand me mine?" Kairi added.

Terra continued to exposit. "Riku's Soul Eater changed into Way to the Dawn after he finally decided to face the music, face you and Sora, and explain what he had done. His courage and self-introspection finally allowed his Keyblade to break through. As for your Keyblade, Kairi, well, since the aura around The World That Never Was was too strong for it to appear naturally, it came to Riku, using him as a messenger."

"He's right." Riku admitted. "Your girly-blade just appeared in my hands before I set out, and I knew through instinct it belonged to you."

"Don't call my Keyblade girly!" Kairi shouted at the silver-haired teen.

"Come on, admit it Kairi," Riku teased further, a smirk growing on his face. "No? It's about the girliest looking thing I've ever seen."

While Riku and Kairi's playful spat continued on, their parents watched with blank looks on their face. All of Terra and Aqua's explanation had flown right over there heads.

**To Be Continued**

_(A/N 1): I will detail this conversation in a side-story to-be-posted following Genesis of Destiny. Lazy... I know! But it's better than nothing._

_Sorry this ended so abruptly... I just really didn't know what to do. Sorry. I promise Chapter 40 will be better!_

_Speaking of which..._

**Chapter Preview**

_Aeron: Well, ain't this a peachy situation. All of our Keybladers lined up in a nice, little row. Perfect!_

_Arianne: Stop acting like a complete, jabbering fool. This is a mission, not a game._

_Sora: We can't get a day's rest from you psychos, can we?_

_Aeron: You can get enough rest when you're dead, midget! Now, I think it's time we live up to our promises and torch this island to the ground!_

_Next Chapter: Destiny's Heart. **Genesis of Destiny Chapter 40: Undeniable!**_

_Sora: I don't care if I'm strong or not, I will protect my home, my family, and my friends! Bring it!_

* * *

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	40. Undeniable

_Angelo: Well, I finished BBS, and, surprise-surprise, IT. IS. AWESOME! Easily the best Kingdom Hearts game every made! Bar none. Though I have dilemma now... Who is my favourite Kingdom Hearts girl? I mean, you got the Big Damn Hero that is Aqua – who is now the undisputed Queen of Kingdom Hearts Fetish Fuel, apparently – and she is all kinds of crazy awesome, but then there's the Dark Chick that is Larxene, who proves the rule that evil is sexy. But then again, there's Kairi and Namine, who, while not as bad-ass awesome as the other two, are still two of my favourite characters from the series, and they are fun, nice, good, well developed characters. I don't know! This tearing me up inside!_

_Sora: Wait... What about Xion?_

_Angelo (eyes twitching): What...?_

_Sora: Well, why is she out of the running when you have every other major, original female character there?_

_(Angelo grabs Sora by the collar, hoists him up, and glares at him menacingly)_

_Angelo: If you EVER mention HER again, I will PUNCH you in the SOUL!_

_(Angelo then drops Sora and continues on, happy as ever. Sora runs off in fear and Kairi joins Angelo instead)_

_Angelo: I've also come up with a new crack pairing I must champion! Laqua!_

_Kairi: Laqua?_

_Angelo: Yeah. Laqua. Larxene + Aqua._

_Kairi: No. No. No. Just no._

_Angelo: But I-_

_Kairi: No! No one is going to like that pairing except you, because you're a sick little monkey!_

_Angelo (backs away in fear and sweatdrops): Why is it that you're tougher than you're boyfriend?_

_(P.S.: I have spent WAAAAY too much time on TV Tropes. To the point where, I now have my own Berserk Button.)_

_(P.P.S: Also, I have a new poll up on my profile page. Or, a poll, rather...it is my first one. Anyways, check it out, please vote! The idea itself may be stupid, but I'm just gonna go with it!)_

Chapter 40: Undeniable

_A dark man, standing before a dark ocean, living on a dark island, existing in a dark world._

_All that existed seemed to be darkness, but this man knew there was something more._

_That's why he stood before the calm ocean, the water ebbing and flowing along the shore, almost lapping at his feet. There was something more to life than what he knew. There was always something more. And that is what he desired, what he lusted for._

_More._

_His abilities, his skills, his gifts, were the envy of his community. He was very blessed, but it was not enough to satisfy him. He desired to see more, to learn more, to experience everything that there was, and live his life to the fullest, to and beyond the limits it possessed. This island was a prison, surrounded by water, surrounded by darkness; a prison where his skills could never grow to their fullest. He was trapped, and there seemed to be nowhere out._

_The calling. Ever since he had been declared "special", he had heard the calling. That somewhere, out there, beyond the expanse of water and darkness, there was more; what he desired, what he obsessed over. Something that could satisfy him in every way imaginable._

_It was his calling, his destiny. The very thing he was made to find and do and accomplish._

_But now, it only taunted him._

_An unsatisfied man, standing before an empty ocean, living on an isolated island, existing in a dark world, pined for his calling._

"_One day, I shall escape this cursed world of darkness, and find that light which I desperately seek."_

* * *

Sora woke up with a start.

It wasn't the dream that did it, though he freely admitted it was bizarre beyond measure. No, what woke him up was... a kind of pulse, somewhere on the Islands. It was a strange feeling, that something was about to transpire.

With his conscious faculties back in action, he remembered his sleeping situation. Sleeping peacefully to his side, was Kairi, his arms wrapped around her waist, and one of hers crooked back, cradling the back of his head, her fingers intertwined with his chocolate-coloured spikes. He could smell whatever it was she used that gave her that irresistible smell. Honey, and strawberries, and vanilla.

It was like some kind of crazy dream he was having, a thought which made him forget about the crazy dream he just had. Kairi Minami, the girl he had been pining after for the past decade, was in bed with him! It wasn't anything major, they didn't engage in anything overly sexual – just made out a little and cuddled – and they were still dressed, but still... It was surreal. A month ago, they were just friends, and Sora would only steal a few shy glances of his crush, or conjure up some dreamy thoughts about her when bored. Kairi confessed the same thing last night, that she thought for the longest time he wasn't interested in her and that her fantasies were just that, fantasies.

Yesterday, after a long night including a big meal courtesy of Terra and Mrs. Alleris, followed by a very annoying bout of questions, explanations and stories. The after-dinner talk ended up eating so much time, that Sora and Kairi didn't actually manage to announce their relationship to their parents, much to their annoyance and frustration (and partial relief to Sora; sometimes, Kairi's father would get a look in his eyes that practically screamed 'Touch my daughters, and I will throttle you'). Anyways, following the long evening, everyone decided it would be best for the group to crash at Sora's place for the evening, while Aqua and Terra returned to _The Ark_, planning to get the group when they were ready to depart to Infinity Paradiso. While everyone was staking out a place to sleep (Roxas, Namine, Donald, Goofy, and the King got the few spots up stairs, while everyone else had to sleep in the basement, which Sora's room was adjoined to) Kairi joined Sora in his room, starting out with just some innocent talk, before Kairi shyly suggested they try sleeping in the same bed. Much to Sora's credit, he didn't seem too overeager to get the girl in bed with him, though just eager enough as to not turn-off Kairi (the brunet was quickly finding that a relationship was a careful balancing act).

As pleasant as Kairi's touch was, as enjoyable and wanted as the warmth of her body, and the peaceful, rhythmic breathing of her sleeping self was, Sora managed to subtly untangle his body from hers, slink out of bed without disturbing her, and get dressed, before leaving his private room and entering the basement den.

The two couches in the room were occupied by Riku and Kalyn, while Edward and Alphonse were asleep next to each other, off to one side. Sora careful tiptoed his way across the room, and up a small flight of stairs, which lead to a door that exited to the world outside. The early morning sun and a fresh, cool breeze off the ocean greeted him, as he stepped across the lawn surrounding his home, circling around to the front of the house, which happened to face the water.

"Sora."

The Keyblade Wielder was startled when he heard the voice. He was wondering where Dayne had vanished too, knowing he was also sleeping downstairs. Sora turned around, finding that Dayne was, oddly enough, sitting on his rooftop, his sword and longcoat placed around him.

"Um...hey Dayne? What's up?"

"Nothing much." Dayne replied, as if his position was completely normal. With one, swift move, he gathered up his effects and leaped from the roof to the ground.

Not knowing how to properly ask it, Sora just went for it. "Did you sleep up there all night?"

"No." Dayne shook his head, retreating to the porch and sitting down on the bottom step. "I, uh...woke up about two hours ago, and really didn't feel like sitting in that dark den by myself, so I came outside to enjoy the sunshine."

"And the rooftop?" Sora pressed. He knew Dayne's sleeping patterns, so the fact that he was up so early didn't surprise him. His perch did, however.

The warrior shrugged. "Don't really have a reason." Sora joined Dayne on the porch, placing himself on a railing next to him instead of the steps. "It's a nice place you got here. Your house, and the island." Sora agreed with a smile. Oddly enough, Dayne then began to sniff the air, particularly leaning to his left, where Sora was sitting.

Sora shifted along the railing nervously. "What's...wrong?" Dayne was snooping after him, closer and closer.

"I smell that...perfume or body wash or whatever Kairi uses. I can faintly smell it on you." He eyed Sora suspiciously, causing Sora to back away even more, sweating slightly.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." This is what Sora worried about. People finding out about his and Kairi's night together.

Dayne didn't let up. "Yeah. I'm sure you do. It's strawberries...and honey...and-"

"Vanilla." Sora finished. "Strawberry and honey and vanilla." Dayne's suspicious look turned to a flat one that said, 'Fess up'. "We, uh...we spent the night together. Cuddling. In the same bed." He then took a defensive stance. "But that's all we did, I swear! I wanna stress that part!" To Sora's shock and health, Dayne leaned back, retreating from his bloodhound search for the scent.

"Oh." Dayne said. 'Oh'. Just a normal, average, nothing's wrong 'Oh'. He followed it up with a smile and, "Good for you two..."

"You're...not mad? I mean, we slept together...in the same bed." Sora was honestly taken aback by Dayne's reserve and normalcy to this. Normally, he would be threatening Sora with his life for doing something so bold with Kairi.

Dayne smiled again. A razor thin smile, the kind Rain use to do. "I'm going to tell you something Sora. I consider Kairi the daughter I never had, and probably never will have. But... I knew her when she was a little girl. You've grown with her for the past decade." He reached over and patted him on the thigh. "You're what she needs now, not me. And although the very thought of you two doing... _it_, fills me with such disgust... I know that you two truly care about each other." Dayne then looked up at the horizon. "Besides, she could do much, _much_, worse than you."

Sora decided to take that as a compliment. "Thanks, Dayne."

For a moment, the two just sat in the morning light, watching the tide come endlessly in and out.

"You sensed it too, didn't you?"

Dayne's question came so abruptly, breaking the serenity of the moment.

"Yeah, I did." Sora returned. Pointing to the southeast, he added, "It came from over there."

"Wanna check it out?" Dayne asked. Sora jumped off the rail, in protest.

"What?" He questioned. "Shouldn't we wait for the others to wake up?"

"I'm not talking about getting into an all-out scrum." Dayne was up too, throwing on his longcoat and strapping High Streak to his back. "Just a little reconnaissance. See what we're up against." He began to walk to a nearby dock, near the direction the two sensed it. Hesitantly, Sora followed.

"So, did you do a lot of recon back when you were in the army?"

"Not really." Dayne replied. "Only in wargames and the like... Truth be told, I never actually saw active duty during my enlistment. But, always a first time for anything!"

With that, Dayne summoned up his energy wings and, using the dock as a runway, took flight, heading in the direction of the pulse. Sora followed behind him, gliding along the surface of the water.

After about ten minutes of travel, they came in view of the island where the disturbance originated.

"That's the place!" Sora shouted out.

"Yeah." Dayne said. "Hey, can you climb? You know, gain some height? You don't wanna come in at ground level."

"Sorry, Dayne." Sora replied. "Gliding doesn't work that way." To assist the gliding Keyblader, Dayne dipped downward, hooking his arms under Sora's armpits, and rose back up into the air, bringing Sora with him. Ascending high above the islands, the two spied down upon the small island. "Who do you think it is?"

"Dunno." Dayne stated simply. "But I can't say I'm not surprised they stooped so low in attacking- WHOA!"

Dayne veered sharply to the left, as a bolt of energy darted up from the island, trying to snipe Dayne mid-flight. The last second adjustment prevented that, but instead, the blast pierced Dayne's wing, causing it to break, and then both energy wings fizzled out. Gravity took hold, and both warriors careened from the sky, crashing down towards the island. Dayne's superhuman skills let him land well enough on two feet, while Sora used an Aero spell to soften his fall. It was still rough though, much of the sand on the beach was mixed with gravel and pieces of dead coral.

"Glad you two could drop in!" A large steel blade zoomed towards the two, both of them ducking to avoiding being run through by the weapon. Their attacker was the weapon-master Immortal, Aeron, who grinned darkly at the prospect of battle.

Dayne grinned back. "One little Immortal isn't anything we can't – JEEZ!"

A fireball rocketed from behind, which Dayne barely avoided, the blast singing a few strands of air. The mistress of the elements, Arianne, was also in tow, floating behind Sora and Dayne.

"Okay...this is a little harder." Dayne re-evaluated. Constantly shifting perspective between Aeron and Arianne. "Which one do you want, Sora?"

The Kingdom Key appeared in Sora's hands. "I never felt too good fighting women, to be honest." Dayne nodded at the appraisal.

"Sounds like a plan!" Dayne went low, allowing Sora to leap over Dayne, going directly at Aeron and his twin broadswords. Dayne rose up and charged at Arianne, who held her gunblades in an 'x' formation.

"Nice plan." Dayne heaved High Streak into the air, letting a blue and white aura accumulate around the buster blade. "Prism Chain Arts, Blizzaga Style: Winter's Bite!" The aura began to buzz and brim, turning into a series of jagged, pulsating teeth. Dayne brought the energized blade down on the crossed swords, apparently doing nothing, until a thick film of ice spread over the steel weapons. "Too bad mine's just that much nicer!" Dayne brought his sword up again, this time bringing it down on the gunblades and utterly destroying them, leaving only the grips intact.

Arianne abandoned her useless weapons, and skirted away, charging energy in her hands. "Lightning Chakra!" A violet bolt of crackling electricity fired from Arianne's right hand. Dayne easily combat rolled away, while the beam passed by. "Magma Chakra!" Arianne's left hand swept over the lands, unleashing a scorching stream of lava, rising from the sands, and trying to arc at Dayne. He leaped straight over the lava, letting it pool on the ground, cooling due to the lack of Arianne's influence.

With Dayne still in the air, Arianne clasped her hands together and thrust them forward. "Wind Chakra!" A whirlwind spiraled out of her hands, catching Dayne and threatening to blow him away effortlessly. Before he could be moved even ten-feet, Dayne raised High Streak into the air and charged it with black and red energy.

"Prism Chain Arts, Finisher Style: Hell's Butterfly!"

The blade beam was launched, creating a split in the gale, and reducing its strength immensely. Arianne had no choice but to stop entirely, jumping backwards to avoid being cut and fried by the Hell's Butterfly attack.

Meanwhile, in contrast to Dayne and Arianne's magic duel, Sora and Aeron were caught in a vicious swordfight. Surprisingly, Sora was actually gaining the edge, due to his finesse with the much smaller Kingdom Key. His own shortness was also a bonus, as he could easily dodge Aeron's big, wide, stylish slashes.

Fed up, Aeron reared back and raised his weapons over his head. "Alright, you little twerp, let's see you and your dinky Keyblade stop this!" Four other broadswords appeared, and all six of the steel weapons merged together, transforming into Aeron's ultimate weapon, the ten-foot-long, five-foot-long zanbato. Moments after forming it, Aeron brought the titanic weapon down, executioner style. The blade crashed on the beach, as Sora rolled away. He launched a Fire spell, but Aeron easily blocked the fireball with the flat of his huge blade.

Charging forward, Aeron went for another slash, but Sora simply ducked under, twisting around, and trying to attack Aeron, but the Immortal only blocked the swipe with his gauntlet. With a simple flick of his arm, he was able to throw Sora off the side, the boy crashing to the ground hard.

Aeron then turned his attention to Dayne, who was currently busy dodging the various Chakra attacks of Arianne. "Ah, the traitor. How I'm going to enjoy this." With the dark proclamation, he raised his zanbato, glowing with energy, into the air. "Sonic Edge!"

Sora struggled to his feet, just in time. "Dayne! Look out!"

The huge sword fell to the ground, unleashing it's payload in the form of a massive concussive blast. Arianne nimbly dashed away, leaving Dayne to suffer the blast alone...

Until Sora intervened! Using his Quick Run, Sora managed to reach Dayne's position in a moment, shoving him aside just before the blast hit!

Unfortunately for Sora, the blast was able to outrun him, just by a bit. The edge of the concussive shockwave clipped Dayne, causing him to spin out and flying off to the side, landing face down in surf. Sora suffered even worse though, as the blast struck him and the sand simultaneously, creating a huge explosion and a plume of obscuring sand.

Aeron was gloating at his own handiwork, but should have realized not to drop his guard. Dayne quickly climbed out of the saltwater and wet sand and shot through the air, kicking Aeron in the face, knocking him off balance, and then hitting a glancing blow with High Streak, severing his breastplate in half.

"Sora? Sora!" Dayne headed over to where Sora was when the blast hit, to see that he indeed took the worst of the blow. Although not cut up, Sora had been hurled backwards a fair number of feet, and was now unconscious, completely dead to the world. Dayne knelt down by him and began to slap him lightly across the cheeks. "Come on kiddo. Get up! Get up!" Nothing. Sora was out like a light. Not one to give up so easily, Dayne tried alternative methods. "Come on... Hey! Look! Kairi wants you to eat pancakes off her naked body!"

…

"GET UP!"

Dayne was struck in the face by a blast of ice, causing him to fly backwards.

When the warrior managed to get back on his feet, peeling away the ice over his eyes, he saw both Arianne and Aeron had recovered.

"Your buffoonery and capering has gone on far too long." Aeron sneered. There was a shallow wound on his chest, where Dayne had slashed off his armour.

"Do everyone in the Realm a favour Aeron," Dayne countered venomously, "and shut the hell up!" Dayne took a fighting stance, but hesitated to jump forward. _There's no way I can fight both of them with Sora out... Crap. Damn you Sora, and damn your hero instinct!_

"What's the matter, traitor?" Aeron taunted in his snake-like grin. "Where's all your vim and vigour?"

Dayne held up his right fist, and called back. "It's right here!" He made a move, scooping Sora up in his left arm, while charging his right fist with brilliant red energy. "Prism Chain Arts, Blasting Style: Max Exploder!"

Dayne looked like he was going to punch one of the opposing Immortals, but instead swung his fist downward, striking the ground and transferring all the energy in his fist into the sand. The energy crackled and surged on the surface of the beach, before reach a climax, unleashing a great amount of heat and pressure, kicking up a huge cloud of sand and debris. The blast, the shockwave, and the cloud covered the majority of the tiny, abandoned island, and blinded all three of the conscious beings present.

* * *

"Good morning, everyone!"

"Morning, Kairi!"

The young redhead stretched her arms and yawned as she entered the upstairs of the Alleris family home, most everybody else having arrived ahead of her. Sora's mother was in the kitchen, cooking a large number of pancakes on an iron griddle, their scent wafting through the air. Everyone in the room (which was, the entire party save Edward, who was still asleep in the basement...and Dayne and Sora) was eating their breakfast, which consisted of the blueberry pancakes Mrs. Alleris was preparing, a platter of strawberries, watermelon, honeydew, pineapple, and bananas. Like last night, everyone was in a very cheerful mood, optimistic, despite the unenviable task they must handle later today.

Kairi took a seat at the table, next to Riku and Kalyn.

"So...what are these things?" Kalyn stared at her breakfast with an uneasy eye, holding up one of the syrup-sodden cakes with her fork.

"Pancakes." Riku explained. "It's flour and eggs and milk and baking powder. They're good!" Despite his claims, Kalyn didn't look convinced. "What did you eat back in Rabanastre, anyways?"

Kalyn shrugged. "Bread. And water. Mostly. Sometime we would get something special. Other times we ran short on supplies, so we had to hunt rats in the sewers." When she looked up from her plate, Kalyn saw everyone at the table staring at her. "What?" Ignoring them, Kalyn took a experimental bite of her meal. Deciding that she liked it, she took another bite.

As the Ivalician girl dug into her breakfast, Kairi took note of the absences in the room. Namely, Dayne and Sora, as she had not seen the two at all this morning. She voiced her concerns. "Has anyone seen Sora? He wasn't in the bed when I woke up." She then realized what she had said, clapping her hands on her mouth in response.

"'Wasn't in the bed'..." Namine repeated the phrase, noting the words. She gasped. "You slept with Sora!" She said in a hushed shout, so Mrs. Alleris was out of earshot.

Riku shook his head. "Couldn't control yourself, could you, Kai?" Kairi reddened and was about to say her piece, but Roxas was quicker to the punch.

"Well, you know what they say about redheads..." He teased.

The redhead in question started to freak. "We did nothing! We just literally slept together. That's all."

"Sure..." Donald rolled his eyes. Roxas voiced a similar sentiment.

"We did nothing!"

Everyone shared a laugh at Kairi's misfortune, except for Kairi herself. She chose to bury her beet red face in her hands. When the laughter died, Goofy spoke up. "But, y'know fellas, she's right. Where is Sora."

Kalyn swallowed a mouthful of pancake. "Now that you all bring it up, I haven't seen the big guy all day, either."

The front door to the house came crashing open, causing everyone to sit up and shut up with a start.

"What was that?" Donald asked. Without any answers, everyone stood up to investigate. They didn't have to go far, though, as a haggard Dayne soon came tromping into the living room-adjoined-kitchen, the still unconscious Sora draped over his shoulder.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and rushed over to the two, shock and horror pasted on their faces.

"What happened?" Kairi asked in a panicked tone. She was the first to make it over to the two, and she and Allison quickly lifted Sora off Dayne's shoulders, taking him into the living room and resting him down on a couch.

Dayne didn't answer, instead, he just sat down at the kitchen table, trying to catch his breath. Kairi reiterated, fiercely. "Why is he unconscious?"

"I don't know." Dayne admitted, sighing loudly. That battle had been a whirlwind. He was still surprised he had managed to escape from within his dust cloud. "I guess he hist his head on a rock or something..."

"Then how did he hit his head on a rock?" Kairi demanded again. Mrs. Alleris was over by the couch, checking on Sora, trying to see if there were any visible wounds. Besides a bump on the back of his head, there were none.

Dayne threw his arms up in the air. "I don't know! Not really...at least." He shook his head. _Damn Sora's stupid hero instinct... Why does he have to be that way?_ He managed to calm down and get enough of his bearing back to continue. "We both got up early this morning, and we sensed the Immortals were nearby. So we left."

"You thought about fighting the Immortals?" Riku asked, angrily. "Without back up? What were you thinking!"

"I was thinking of scouting, not fighting." Dayne insisted. "Aeron and Arianne were there. They shot me down while I was flying high overhead so we had no choice but to fight. It was going well until Aeron tried to attack me from behind with some...sonic blast or something. Anyways, Sora dove in the way of the attack, he took the full brunt of the blast, and I guess he hit his head on something. The beach we were fighting on was pretty bad..." Dayne shook his head again and scowled. Damn Sora! That attack probably wouldn't have done anything to him, he was made of sterner stuff. Why the hell did he have to do that?

"Roxas... could you get me an ice pack from the freeze?" Allison asked, and the blond was quick to act. There was a hitch in her voice when she called for Sora's 'new' brother.

"How did you two get away?" Roxas asked, while he handed the compress to Allison, who then gently lifted Sora's head and applied it to where the bump was.

"I threw up a cloud of sand, grabbed the kid, and flew away." Dayne explained. "I took a round-about way to cover our tracks, make sure they didn't follow us, but that won't do us any good."

Namine blinked. "Wait, why is that?" It was Kalyn who answered the question.

"I thought you had been fighting these Immortals for some time." She intoned sarcastically. Kalyn had yet to leave the table or her breakfast, not reacting like the others when Sora and Dayne arrived. "They don't seem like the type that care about any conventions of warfare. They are probably more than willing to target civilians and innocents to get what they want...or for sport." The Ivalician then took another big bite of pancakes.

_Pancakes for breakfast?_ Dayne noted, remembering the comment he made to Sora a short time earlier. "Small world..." He muttered to himself.

Riku quickly got what Kalyn was getting at. "Then we need to bring the fight to them, not wait for them to come to us..." They obviously couldn't fight the Immortals on Salm, Riku knew that. Nor could they go to one of the children's islands, it would be too big a risk if there were any kids there. Then there was the fact about how the public would handle the idea of Keyblades and super-powered beings fighting a war in their own backyard.

"I think I know a place we could fight them in safety and peace." Riku stated. "To the west of here, there is an island that's completely empty. It's surrounded by sandbars, too small to hold a community, and too far from shore for children to go their and play. If we can somehow draw Aeron and Arianne there, we should be fine."

"Then what are we waitin' for!" Donald declared, drawing his staff. "We've missed all the action, and I'm rarin' to go at this!"

Mickey held up a hand. "Hold on, Donald." The King advised him. "Kalyn is right about them not caring who they hurt. They also might be using the Heartless and Nobodies. It would be irresponsible of us to leave Sora, and this island, unprotected from a sneak attack."

Goofy nodded along with the King's word. "His Majesty's right! I'll stay here and protect Sora and Calm."

"Salm, Goofy." Donald corrected with an exasperated wheeze.

Goofy chuckled "Ahyuk! Right, Donald. That too." Donald just sighed.

"We should all stay behind, Goofy." Mickey suggested to his subjects. "We know how strong these Immortals are, and I couldn't imagine what would happen if anything came to their homes or families." Mickey motioned to Kairi and Riku.

"Alright..." Donald conceded, slightly annoyed that he was going to have to sit out on the fighting again.

"I'll stay behind and help too!" Alphonse offered. Riku raised an eyebrow at the younger boy's words.

"Are you sure, Al?"

"Yes. I know that I can fight, but I'm not as good as brother with his Keyblade. I think I could help much more in this capacity!"

"Alright then." Riku nodded, vaguely realizing that Edward was still sleeping in the basement. The silver-haired boy then spotted Mrs. Alleris out of the corner of his eye, moving to the phone. "Ma'am? What are you doing?"

"I'm calling your parents." The brunette woman then began to dial on the phone, even though a look of rebellion was brewing in the Keybladers. "They should know about this."

"Please don't, Mrs. Alleris," Kairi pleaded to her. "We don't want them to worry about us."

"Whether you want them to or not, they are your parents." She insisted. A strong, passionate glare appeared in her cerulean eyes, and for a moment, Kairi could see a glint of her own son with the eyes of Allison Alleris. "They have a right to know what their children are doing. Especially when..." When she trailed off, the magnitude of the environment they were in finally began to hit Kairi and Riku. They were use to an independence when adventuring, and they were use to their personal lives and their lives beyond the Island staying separate from one another. But now, they were colliding. The Immortals were on their doorsteps, and their own parents and friends were just standing behind them. They were still children, living with their parents...parents who worried about them. And considering how many near-death experiences they had come across, they had every right to worry.

"Alright..." Kairi whispered, nodding at her boyfriend's mother. She had been selfish, not caring about her parents, how they felt or were affected by all of this.

Allison finished dialing and waited for the line to pick up. "Hello, Nature's Grace Flower Shop? Is Julia there..."

"Come one guys," Riku waved the team over, gathering everyone in the living room. "We have to hurry it up."

"He's right." Dayne quickly helped himself to a small stack of pancakes and a cup of coffee. "Every minute we waste could prove costly."

Just then, Edward, still trying to rub sleep out of his eyes, entered the bizarre chaos of the living room. "Huh...What's going on?"

* * *

Riku was right about the island the group had arrived at. It was perfect for a fight. It was so small that "island" wasn't even the right word; it was an islet, around forty-square feet in total, mostly made of sand, with only a small patch of green wild-grass and palm trees growing from the center. The Salm coastline was only a small, indiscernible shape in the horizon. Several sandbars were visible under the green-blue surf, which lazily crashed along the shore.

They had already been on the tiny speck of land for a good five minutes and nothing had happened. Namine was the first to voice herself. "So, how are going to get them to come here?"

"Don't know..." Riku said quickly, arms crossed as he looked onto the sea. He then turned to Dayne, "You said you were flying high? Well, how did they spot you guys?"

Dayne rubbed his chin in thought. "Dunno. Maybe... I did have my energy wings out. Maybe they can sense us or our energy?"

"That reminds me," Roxas broke in. "How did you two sense them, anyways?"

"...That's a good question." Dayne admitted in a deadpan tone, blinking sheepishly all the while. "I mean, I can sense Immortals cause I am one. But, I have no idea how Sora managed that..." Riku and Roxas sighed at the admission.

While the three boys argued – Kalyn, Edward, and Namine just standing about indifferently – Kairi swirled a few of Dayne's words around in her head. Without a second thought, she summoned Oathkeeper, staring at the immaculate white Keyblade for a second, before pointing it up to the sky. She fired out a single ray of light, which stopped all conversation, as all seven watched the ray go higher and higher until it vanished.

"What's that gonna do?" Ed asked when the light vanished.

"Guess we'll have to wait and see." Kalyn replied. With a stoic look in her eyes, the Ivalician girl sat down, Indian style, while the others waited in their own way.

Namine shuffled over to Kairi, "So...what exactly were you and Sora doing in bed last night?" Even though it was given in a playful tone, Kairi's face still turned as red as her hair. Namine started laughing like mad, and Kairi was about to chew the blonde out when she realized that Dayne was in earshot. Oh God, Dayne was in earshot...

Kairi's mixed look of embarrassment and fear was not missed by Dayne, who shrugged in her direction. "What? I already knew about you two and your little... rendezvous last night," Kairi's looked turned to one of shock, "and I told Sora that it was fine."

And now everyone was left incredulous at this admission.

"Wait." Ed said. "Didn't you threaten Sora with bodily harm _five seconds_ after they started their relationship?" Dayne snorted and rolled his eyes.

"That's besides the point." He turned back to Kairi. "While I may act overprotective of you most of the time, I am not totally ignorant on how teenagers act. Not to trivialize your relationship, but, well, teenagers are horny things, they like to experiment... they do things." He then turned away, staring out at the ocean, running his fingers through his hair. "Besides, given your lives, its best you do what you can now, in case...well, you know." That last words didn't need to be say. Everyday now seemed to evolve into a life-or-death situation rather quickly.

Kairi nodded. "Yeah. Thanks Dayne." Little Dayne know, Kairi would soon take Dayne's words very much to heart in the near future...

Without any warning whatsoever, a glowing sword composed of energy dived down from nowhere, sticking the beach, and causing everyone to step back.

"What the...?" Roxas muttered. No one had time to react or attempt to research the blade, especially Roxas, as a second sword struck the ground, only inches away from Roxas.

Following that, a flurry of the mysterious, glowing energy constructs rained down from the sky, burying themselves into the landscape. Even though the group of seven had no idea what they were, they were smart enough to try and stay away from the enigmatic weapons. Unfortunately, so many of the swords had appeared that they were all but surrounded in a field of energy blades.

And then, with one final pulse of white light, all the swords exploded, unleashing a combined blast of heat, fire, and wind that knocked all of the Key Bearers down to the ground, though they were still conscious and in relative good health.

When the obscuring cloud of sand finally settled, the group unsurprisingly saw that Aeron and Arianne had appeared, floating and gloating above them.

"Did we really have to resort to such a cowardly sneak attack?" Arianne bemoaned to her companion. Although she was an Immortal who, as one, frequently terrorized innocents across the Realm, she did have standards. And working with the smug, loud, cocky Aeron was definitely below hers.

Aeron shrugged, totally nonchalant. "Of course!" He then flashed a wicked grin. "Listen, this punks have become an increasingly annoying task. No more pulling punches, fighting with honour and integrity, or any of that other bull-crap!"

"'Fight with honour'?" Edward shouted back, waving Fullmetal Fury in Aeron's direction. "Is that some kind of sick joke?" He still remembered the torment the Immortal had shown him and Alphonse. "You're nothing but a big coward, and no policy change is gonna change that fact!"

Aeron sneered down at the alchemist. "Alright... Well, how 'bout a more frontal assault, then?" He waved his zanbato, unleashing another torrent of the energy blades. "Mine Sword!"

The blades rained down into the beach. This time though, the heroes managed to get more out of dodge before the blades detonated. The shockwave-blast still rattled them and knocked them around a little bit, but they weren't caught up in the flames this time.

Aeron cackled with wicked glee while Arianne just sighed, shaking her head. "If it must be this way..." Arianne began to sweep her arms through the air, firing bolts of lightning and flame down on the beach.

As her attacks crashed down on the beach, the telltale blue light of Ed's alchemy pierced through, as a tower of metal erupted from the sand, angling itself towards Arianne. The Immortal simply summoned a whirlwind around her body, causing the tip of the tower to simply peal away whenever it came near her. The tower suddenly stopped, and running up the improvised ramp way, like a bat out of hell, was Kalyn, bearing Freedom menacingly. She leaped off the alchemized tower, swinging for the fences with her elegant Keyblade, but Arianne simply ducked under the slash attempt, flying away from her non-flying opponent with and insultingly level of malaise grace. As gravity started to take control of Kalyn, the Ivalician summoned up a spout of water, using it and its momentum to give herself a boost and go directly at Arianne again.

"I should let you know," Kalyn called to her foe, constantly calling water spouts from the ocean to keep her airborne, "The last Immortal I fought was female... and I killed her with ease!"

Arianne waved hers hands about again, causing them to glow, becoming encased in black spires of rock. With one of these, she began to easily parry all of Freedom's attacks. "Ah yes... You're the one that killed Vaniele." The two continued their aerial dance for a few more moments – slash, parrying, lift, slash – until Arianne dove down when Kalyn bounded up with a water spout, leaving Kalyn hanging high above her opponent. "You fight differently than most Key Bearers. Without remorse, something that you seem to cherish."

"What are you getting at?" A ticked Kalyn called back.

Arianne chose not to respond, instead, firing a large globe of ice at her opponent. Kalyn responded by unleashing two powerful, blunt waves of water – her Crashing Wave attack – at Arianne. The first one smashed the ice ball into hundreds of pieces, and the second one smashed into Arianne and sent her flying to the beach, Kalyn diving right after her. Before Arianne could recover or even land, a golden chain wrapped around Arianne's leg. Arianne grimaced at Namine, the blonde smiling to herself at her catch, but the Immortal had a different idea. When she did land, she snagged the chain and whipped around, her superhuman strength enough to carrying Namine into the air, untangling herself from Chain of Memories' whip, and sending the blonde ex-Nobody careening into the still diving Kalyn. Both girls smashed into one another, before falling to the earth.

But Arianne was not victorious yet, as Edward came running up to her, swinging Fullmetal Fury as only he could (Edward was still by and far the worst swordsman in the group). Arianne parried the blow with her onyx arm-blades, but that proved to be a mistake. The alchemist's Keyblade instantly reacted to the rock, transmuting the stone into a weak charcoal, causing both blades to crumble to pieces. Surprise on her face, Arianne tried to back away from the fuming, wild-swinging Ed, but the diminutive blond had more than enough speed to keep up. Growing sick of playing defence, Arianne snatched Fullmetal Fury's blade in her hand on a whim, the shaft cutting her palm deeply, but she only grinned darkly at the fact. Green lightning began to flow through her body, running down the Keyblade, up Ed's automail, and coursing into his body in a violent fashion.

The body of the Fullmetal Alchemist spasmed and twitched in an extremely violent way, but he managed to keep going on. He refused to scream in pain, instead, gritting his teeth and showing nothing but pure determination. Channeling all the will power in his body, he kicked Arianne in the hip, with his left _metallic_ leg. The circuit came back full circle, with the electricity now running through Ed, up his leg, and back into Arianne, shocking the elemental sorceress. Her choice to either let go or be fried like Edward, Arianne relinquished her grip of Fullmetal Fury and backed away from an beat-up Ed.

Only to be tackled to the ground by Kalyn, who had recovered from her collision with Namine.

Meanwhile, across the beach, Aeron had landed, and was dueling Dayne, Riku, Kairi, and Roxas, at the same time! He had transformed his zanbato into two broadswords, which were clashing with the four Keyblades and the high-frequency blade. Given his size, speed, skill, raw power, and the size of his swords, Aeron easily fended off the four, even keeping all four at close range so they could only rely on their swordsmanship as opposed to their magic or supernatural powers.

But even that fact didn't daunt the four. When Aeron lunged forward with his left blade, Kairi side-stepped the attack, but kept Oathkeeper in place, letting the broadsword slide in between the two bars of her Keyblade. She then snagged the sword and angled it so that Aeron's arm began to bend and contort at a near-impossible angle.

"Oh you little -" Aeron then tried to bring his right blade down on Aeron, but felt a weight pulling it down. He checked over his shoulder to see Dayne had dropped High Streak down on the sword, keeping his boot on both swords, and locking Aeron's other arm down too.

Even more frightening than the fact that Aeron was pinned down was the violent, murderous look in Dayne's eyes, which were screaming bloody murder. It should now be known to all who cross Dayne's path – call Kairi a 'bitch', or even try to call her that, and you will never escape his wrath.

With both of Aeron's weapons and arms locked and trapped, Riku and Roxas were able to dash at Aeron, from the front and behind, slashing at the armourless chest of Aeron. The force of the strikes were enough to cause the Immortal to spin around like a top, and rising into the air, his swords left behind on the ground.

Both Aeron and Arianne retreated back to the sky, beaten back after the initial assault.

"Looks like you two are completely useless unless you sneak attack!" Roxas taunted. The downtrodden Immortals glared back at him, and his six companions, but admitted he was right. Somehow, these annoying Keybladers had obtained such power that they were easily on par with them. Hell! They were sitting much higher than they ever were. It was an insane idea!

Aeron recalled his two discarded sabres. "Yeah, okay, backstabbing you all maybe my specialty," Aeron conceded with a very cocky tone. He fused his two blades together again, this time forming them into a long, multi-segmented whip chain. "But we got another strategy up our sleeves. You wanna show 'em what I mean, you old bat?"

Arianne twinged at the comment. "Yes." She forced through her clenched teeth. "But if we are sharing how we feel about one another, you incompetent twerp, I should tell you there's nothing in the Realm right now that would make me happier than if you were to die today." With that, Arianne shut her eyes, and knelt in midair, clasping her closed fists together – as if in a mock prayer. An aura made up of red, violet, yellow, and blue energy swirled around the kneeling Immortal.

"Elemental Barrage!"

Still in her trance-like state, Arianne conjured up a literal storm of her controlled elements from nowhere. Balls of fire, wind drills, spikes of rock, spheres of water, chunks of ice, lightning bursts, clouds of steam, plumes of sand, flows of magma, and sharpened spires of timber.

Without warning, the gathered might of the elements were unleashed on the heroic band, each piece of the elemental artillery unit striking the ground with massive, magnificent force. Every strike kicked up a cloud of sand and created a huge sonic boom, blinding and disorienting the group so that they couldn't counter when they were actually hit by the blasts.

Eventually, the artillery barrage receded, leaving the entire group downed and beaten by the assault. Arianne kept her stoic pose, but Aeron expressed his great pleasure at the scene, cackling like a madman, as was his custom.

"Oh, that was priceless!" He declared with a malicious smirk. He then leaned over to Arianne. "Ready to hit them with another round?"

"I suppose..."

The elements returned, hanging over the head's of the heroes, ready to smash them again.

Ed leaped to the call. "This time we're ready for that trick!" Slamming his Keyblade into the ground, Ed created a large, high wall of steel to weather the group against the incoming storm.

"But are you ready for this trick?" Aeron began to spin his whip chain around him. "Armour Rend!"

With one final snap of the whip, Aeron unleashed a spiral of razor-sharp energy, that made contact with the wall of steel, and smashed it to bits instantly!"

The group backed away in shock, as Arianne's Elemental Barrage began its slow descent to the group.

Kairi and Namine, not deterred by the failure of Ed's alchemy, went up the plate to defend the party.

"Light Screen!" Kairi called, summoning a screen of golden light.

"Reflega!" Namine conjured up her honey-combed dome of reflective light.

Aeron, once again, just cackled. "Sorry, but... Armour Rend!"

The razor of energy flew out from the whip chain again, this time slashing apart both the spells, sending the casters flying away, and letting Arianne's blasts reach the party.

"Third time's the charm..." Kalyn grunted, as she made her way to the front of the party, amid the crashing elemental spells. "Everyone! Behind me!" She held out her left arm, gathering water around her left arm, forming a large disk of water, increasing the surface tension of the disk as she did. With everyone behind her, most of the artillery simply scattered around Kalyn, while the rare blasts that did touch her shield did nothing, either bouncing off the wall, breaking to pieces, or extinguishing itself out.

Not to be deterred by the effective water shield, Arianne snapped out of her trance, and focused on Kalyn, firing a bolt of lightning her way. The electricity hit the barrier, shorting out the magical bracer, and then traveled up Kalyn's arm and body, being conducted by the water on her arm. She shrieked and twitched in pain, eventually collapsing when the bolt ran its course.

Riku rushed forward to the front of the group. "Kalyn!" He called out to her. He grabbed the girl by her waist, trying to get her back to reality. "Kalyn! Kalyn! Come on, get up!"

Aeron appeared in front of Riku, teleporting to him from the air.

"Aw...did someone's girlfriend get all banged up?"

Riku glared at the mocking Immortal. "She's not my girlfriend, you bastard!" He roared, taking up Dark Before Dawn and getting ready to slice him to pieces. Still clutching Kalyn by her waist, he charged at Aeron.

Aeron easily dodged the telegraphed strike. "In that case, I won't feel bad about this!" Aeron kicked Riku in the back with an armoured leg, the greave knocking all the wind out of Riku's chest and stunning him. He followed this up with a spinning attack with his chain whip, the flat of which smacked into Riku, sending him and Kalyn flying away.

With another smirk, Aeron teleported back to his spot in the air.

"All right Arianne, let's finish this off." Arianne gritted her teeth. She when Aeron talked to her like this, as if he was giving orders.

"I don't think so!" Dayne raged from the ground. Sick of being hammered by these two today, Dayne conjured up his energy wings and rocketed into the sky, charging at Aeron with murderous intent. The two locked up with their weapons, striking and parrying repeatedly. That is, until Dayne hit one of the bottom links of the chain while Aeron was in mid-swing. The force of the blow caused the chain to wrap around the sword's blade, and the full length of the chain swinging around and smashing into his back, the barbs digging into his flesh with a sickening squelch.

Showing his sadistic side, Aeron tugged on the weapon, causing the whole length of the weapon to tear out of Dayne's body, ripping up his clothing and backside like he had been struck with a chainsaw. With one final kick, Aeron sent the bloody Dayne back down to the ground.

"Charge it up!" Aeron barked to Arianne. She grunted by complied none the less, preparing another Elemental Barrage. "I'm getting sick and tired of this place anyways. The tenacity of these punks is sickening."

A low whistling sounded out over the small islet, as two massive fireballs collided with Aeron and Arianne – seemingly from nowhere – and exploding, engulfing the two in a fiery conflagration.

"Someone mentioned 'tenacity'?"

* * *

_It always come back to here, doesn't it...?_

Sora found himself in a strange, but familiar environment. The Station of Awakening. The stained glass pillar that was the metaphysical manifestation of a person's inner heart, though not everyone (in fact very few people) ever saw. His adventure had started when he visited the Stations of Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, and Snow White, he had fought Roxas within his own Station, and this journey began with his dream here, meeting the armoured figure.

His mural had changed only slightly since the last time he had arrived. The outer rim was still made by a ring of crowns, though the picture in the center now pictured him, cuddling lightly with Kairi, both of whom were resting on a bough of a paopu tree in front of the islands. In the distance, on the beach, Sora could make out the figures of Riku, Roxas, and Namine. Surrounding the mural were the faces of his various friends and loved ones. Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Roxas, Namine, both of his parents, Edward, Alphonse, Dayne, and Kalyn. Kairi's portrait was surrounded by a white heart, as opposed to a circle, but there were even more empty circles after Kalyn's portrait. All of the portraits together combined to form a perfect circle around the image of Sora and Kairi on the paopu tree.

"There'll be many more. You've always been one to attract friends." Something pressed down on Sora's shoulder, making him jumped even more than the voice.

"Who's there!" He called, jumping away and spinning around as he did.

The mysterious figure sighed. "Calm down, Sora." When he had fully faced around, he got a good look at the speaker. It was a very attractive, older woman – not too old, mind you, somewhere in her mid-twenties it looked like. Even though Sora only had eyes for Kairi, he could admit the woman before him was very beautiful. She wore an odd top, shaped like a heart, revealing a fair amount of cleavage in the process. The top was coloured navy blue, trimmed with silver, and kept on her body with four thin red belts hooked around her shoulders. Over the heart-shaped top, the woman wore a very long duster jacket, coloured a shimmering gold, the material looking very airy and light. The jacket had a high collar, large lapels, a black hood, and, towards the end, split into two very long coattails. Several colourful flowers were sewn into the fabric of the tails. Her hair was the same chocolate colour of Sora, and very similar to it overall, as thick as his too. Her face was framed by two long bangs, with the rest of the hair trailing all the way down to her buttocks, clasped loosely at various points by golden circlets. Her skin tone was surprisingly pale, making her appear to be glowing with an ethereal quality in the dim light of the Station of Awakening. Her arms were each fitted with a brass coloured bracer, a shining blue orb embedded in the armour. Her legs were covered by a modest skirt, dark red, trimmed with a jagged pattern in gold, that stretched to her knees. The rest of her legs were covered by a pair of flat ankle boots, done in a brassy colour, with star designs on the side of her boots, and white bandages that wrapped up her legs from her ankles to just below her knees. Her outfit was topped off by several accessories; a belt, with a large buckle on it, shaped like the badges Terra and Aqua wore, shaped like a stylized, golden heart, the tip being exaggerated to a long, narrow point, and a spiked bar cross the base of the heart. She wore a necklace with a large key shaped pendant on the end. Oddly enough, was that she only had one visible eye, coloured sea foam green. The other one – the right one – was covered by a large eye patch shaped like a heart, which also happened to cover a fair portion of the right side of her face.

The mysterious woman smiled warmly at Sora, bowing slightly. The countenance of this visitor, combined with the fact that she just gave Sora an eyeful of cleavage, made the brunet blush heavily. "Hello, Sora." She greeted brightly. "It's nice to finally talk in person."

It took a moment for Sora's mind to click into gear, as he realized just who this person was. "It's you! You! You're the voice who's been speaking to me."

She smiled again, nodding her head slightly forward. "Yes." She then extended her hand outward. "My name is Reina. I'm sorry for not speaking to you earlier."

"Don't mention it." Sora smiled back, taking her hand and shaking it. "It's nice to meet you too, Reina." After breaking the handshake, it took a beat for Sora to get to the awkward question. "So... Who are you? Why are you here?"

"Don't be afraid. I'm not some invader trying to destroy your heart, nor am I an enigmatic mentor like the armoured figure you met. I am – and, please try and bare with me here, as it is a little unbelievable – the Spirit of your Keyblade."

Sora blinked for a second. Though the idea of the Keyblade being a real thing was...odd, to say the least, Sora could at least accept the fact in a very easy manner. Like Riku, he had experienced moments with the Keyblade that hinted it was more than a simple tool or weapon; it seemed to act on its own and have its own feelings towards certain things. Sora considered all this, whilst summoning and examining the Kingdom Key.

"I kind of figured there was more to this than meets the eye." Sora muttered while eying his trusted weapon. He then faced Reina. "So, this is you?"

"Well, sort of." Reina said, while touching the Keyblade lightly. "That is just my vessel, my container. It's the body, while I am more the heart and soul. And I must say, you're taking this quite well."

Sora shrugged it off. "I'm use to the weird and implausible. Comes with the territory." He laughed a little bit at his own joke. "So, Reina, if you've been my Keyblade all this time, why are you revealing yourself to me now?"

Reina titled herself slightly away from Sora, touching her patch lightly. "It's..." She licked her lips, a sheepish smile spreading across her face. "I picked you to be my wielder because of the way you are. You always put your friends ahead of yourself, and you're always meeting people and making more friends. Even when they seems indifferent or hostile to you, somehow, you bring them over to your side." She waved her hand over the ring of portraits surrounding his mural. "These people. The ones you love and care about, they are what's most important to you, correct?"

Sora didn't hesitate a single second to respond. "Yeah. Of course."

"Yeah..." Reina smiled back at Sora. "It was for me too, a long time ago."

Sora furrowed his eyebrows at the statement. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's...nothing, Sora." She touched her patch again. "Just, a long time ago, I lost sight of what was important to me, and... it was very costly to me." She then shook her head, smiled, and changed the subject. "But never mind that. I chose you because of who you are naturally. Your friends and loved ones are what you cherish most, and you will protect them whatever the challenge. To the point that now, it's not even instinct, your protective nature is reactionary.

"Sora... you are as your name. The sky connects all worlds, and you connect all the people you meet. And you've grown so much, in terms of your self and in your experience. You're a very admirable person." Reina then stopped, blushing as she face Sora. "I admire that in you. So I want to help you, and I think you're ready now for my help."

"Your help...?" Sora repeated. "I don't understand."

"It's complicated, I'll admit. But, with me, you can become strong enough to protect everyone you know and love from whatever you may face.

"And right now, they are in danger."

"Aeron and Arianne?" Sora asked instantly. Reina nodded in confirmation. "Well, how do I get out of here? I mean, what happened to me after the battle?"

"You're head bounced off a rock." Reina explained. "You've been knocked out and you're currently resting in your bedroom. As for how to leave..." Reina waved her hand, and a single trail of golden light shot down from blackness above them, leaving a pool of light on the pillar. "I induced a deeper state of unconsciousness so we could speak. I can send you back anytime you wish."

"No time like the present, then." Sora declared. He started off to the ray of light, but stopped halfway. "It was nice to finally meet you Reina."

"Finally meet me?" Reina looked puzzled. "Were you expecting me earlier?"

"Well no, but I've had the Keyblade for over a year. It kind of feels like I'm familiar with you already." He flashed a smile at Reina, before heading into the light and vanishing.

Reina was left within her wielder's heart. She hugged her own arms, smiling all the while. She had longed to meet Sora, but the experience was proving to be bittersweet. Sora reminded her so much of herself when she was his age, but that thought dragged up some bad memories in of itself. "You're the key that connects everything Sora. For your sake, I pray the mantle treats you better than it did me..."

* * *

"What are you doing out here?" Mickey asked, as he exited the Alleris's homestead. He was speaking to Dias Alleris, who was currently sitting on the railing of the porch, staring at the ocean.

"Too many people inside. No one doing anything, though." Dias admitted. "I needed some air." Allison had indeed called all of the parents of the Islanders, leading them to all take personal days and worry about their children in unison. Dias himself was shocked to find that Aiden had actually left his office for this; normally, it would take a natural disaster to cause his Right Honourable Mayorship to leave during the middle of the day.

Mickey nodded, joining Dias on the railing. Silence fell on the two apparent strangers, as Dias kept his eyes on the ground, scratching his beard mindlessly for some time.

"It's nice to see you again, Dias."

Sora's father smiled. He had wondered when Mickey would acknowledge their past. "It's good to see you too, old friend." He said through his grin. "Or, should I call you Your Majesty? Now that you actually have the crown and all."

"I don't see why you should. You knew I was royalty way back when, and that never bothered you before."

"True." Dias returned, with a lazy nod of his head. "Though I never did make good on that promise to see your Kingdom. Guess I have no excuse now, seeing as how you and my son are friends."

The King of Disney laughed to himself. "You know, I never knew that Sora was your son until I discovered his last name. Then it all started to make sense." He looked over to Dias and said, "He's a lot like you."

"Nah." Dias dismissed quickly. "He's a better kid than I was. Acts like his mom did, when she was his age." Dias place his hands behind his head, which Mickey noted was something Sora was prone to do. "I was a troublemaker. Sora's a good kid."

Mickey nodded along, but he still maintained his original opinion of 'Like father, like son'. "That reminds me, I never did ask you what you've been up to all these years."

Dias shrugged again. "Nothing as exciting as your adventures, I trust you."

"I would still like to hear 'em."

"Okay, well, after coming to Salm, I joined a Fiend Hunter squad, but that way of living got kind of grating after a while. One day, I met Allison and life sort of fell into place. We started dating, got married, I got a job at the newspaper, and we had Sora."

"Sora!"

Both mouse and man perked up at the shout. "Was...there just a very loud echo after I spoke?" Dias questioned, not sure what happened.

"It came from inside." Mickey pointed out. The two left their place on the railing and returned inside, to see a conscious Sora, wobbling slightly as he walked forward. He lost his balance and nearly fell forward if it wasn't for Alphonse, who quickly caught him.

"What are you doing, Sora?" Dias asked his son, approaching him to help Alphonse support him.

Sora groaned slightly. He was still a little loopy from the head trauma. "I'm gonna help my friends."

"Sora, no." His mother pleaded. "You're still hurt. You can't honestly think you're going out there and fight?"

"That's exactly what I'm gonna do." Sora forced his way from his father and Al's grip and moved forward. He was stopped by none other than the petite figure of his mother. "Mom. Please move."

"No." Allison Alleris stared his son down, that fierce spark in her eyes returning. The simple word was filled with tremendous weight. "No. You are not going out there. Riku and Kairi and the others can handle whatever is happening. You need to-"

"What I need is to go out and fight alongside my friends!" Sora had never really yelled at his mother like that before. He didn't like yelling at her like that, but it was necessary. "I know you're scared, I know you want to protect me, but you can't just keep me hidden away from the dangers of the world all the time just because you're afraid. Yes, we may get hurt, but I promise you, I will bring everyone back alive and well."

An uncertain looked crossed Allison's face, two forces battled deep within her. Sora was her only child, and odds are they may not have another child. She didn't want to lose him... But he had that Keyblade. That meant something. To him, and to the world. It made her son some kind of hero, and the target of all kind of dangers. She was proud and scared at the same time. Then she also thought about how much he had grown in his year absence...how much he'd grown without her. Sora really didn't need her anymore. That's the thought that scared her the most. Sora had grown so much, that he could be on his own.

She was about to voice all these thoughts, when it was Dias who spoke up. "Let him go, Allie." Allison perked up at his use of the pet name. Dias stared her down, warm green eyes meeting her soft blue ones. "He's right. He has to do this. And he can do this."

Sora turned around at his father's admission, seeing the look of pride and respect on his face.

"Dias is right." Mickey piped in. "Go on Sora. Go help them. We'll stay behind and protect everyone here."

"If there's anyone who can do it, it's Sora!" Goofy declared, more for the adults in the room than anyone else. "He's never let anyone of us down."

Donald nodded along. "We all believe in you!"

Sora smiled at his friends encouragement, but he still saw his mother looked despondent. Without an ounce of hesitation, he hugged her tightly, and told her, "I love you, mom. And I promise you, I'm gonna come back. Every time, I'll come back." Allison smiled silently at that, before Sora broke the hug and headed to the door.

At this point, Aiden Minami finally decided to speak up. "Just make sure your injury doesn't end up hurting anyone else!"

Sora instantly got what Aiden was saying and responded quickly. "Don't worry, sir. Nothing will happen to your daughter." He called back. "After all, I love her."

It took a second for the words to sink into Aiden's mind. "Wait. What!" It was too late, as Sora was already out the door, and on his way to the site of the battle. "What did he say? What did he mean by that?" Aiden began to growl.

Dias smiled smuggly. "So, they finally got together, eh?" He said. "Well, who had July 30th in the pool?" He asked the assembled group in a joking tone.

Aiden only growled louder. "You mean... Him and Kairi!" His face turned bright scarlet and it looked like his eyes were threatening to bulge out of his head.

"Aiden, dear, remember what the doctor said about your anger." His wife tried comforting him, but it seemed too little too late.

Allison though, now perked up again, decided to take offence to Aiden's mood. "What are you trying to say, Aiden?" She complained, right in the raging bull's face. "Are you saying that my son isn't good enough for your precious daughter?"

"No man is good enough for my daughters!"

Julia sighed at her husband's actions. "I think they make a lovely couple, Allison."

"I know!" Allison replied. "I'm just surprised it took them this long and a trip around the galaxy for them to realize this."

Indeed, it seemed everyone knew that these two were crazy for one another, except Sora and Kairi themselves.

* * *

"Damn it!" Aeron snarled. "Who the hell did that?" He craned his head left and right, after being smashed by the Fission Firaga spell, for the attacker. The blast was particularly powerful, having shattered Aeron's left gauntlet completely.

"Looking for me?" From atop one of the few palm trees of the islet, behind the downed heroes, was none other than Sora. He had escaped notice because Aeron and Arianne were so focused on the other seven. To make the move even more impressive, was that Sora had launched the two strong, advanced Fission Firagas without summoning the Keyblade!

"So... it's you." Aeron growled. "Well, no matter. The set up we got, you're not gonna make much of a difference." He turned to Arianne again and barked more orders. "Hit them with everything you got!" Arianne glared back at the Immortal but said nothing, charging another Elemental Barrage attack.

"Not going to happen!" Sora countered. With a bright flash of golden light, Sora summoned his Keyblade.

Like Riku, Roxas, and Namine, Sora's Keyblade had changed into a new form. This one bared some resemblance to the Kingdom Key, but it also shared visual similarities to Terra's Celestial Guide (A/N 1).The new weapon possessed a yellow-gold guard like the Kingdom Key, except this was shaped in a perfect circle. Two chains – one red and white, the other gold and silver – hanged off opposite sides of the guard, and they joined together at the Keychain token at the bottom, which took the shape of Sora's crown shaped necklace. The haft of the Keyblade was coloured shining silver with gilded edges, and a red stripe running up the center of the haft, stopping about halfway up. Elegant, airy scrollwork was inscribed onto the blade and guard, creating the images of suns, stars, moons, keys, chains, flowers, and crowns upon them. At the end of the blade, the teeth jutted out from both sides, taking the forms of several flat tabs – similar to the teeth on Celestial Guide, but they were all of even length – and at the very tip, the new Keyblade split into two paths, which arced way and together to form a heart, with a crown resting a top it.

Sora waved his new weapon in a testing manner as voiceless words entered his head._ The Valiant Heart of Destiny. Destiny's Heart._

Everyone was in awe at Sora's return and his Keyblade's transformation. But no more so than Kairi. She was happy that Sora was healthy and back, but still felt a kind of emptiness in her. She looked at Oathkeeper as a depressing thought crossed her mind. _Roxas, Namine, Riku, Sora... All of them have gotten new Keyblades in the last day. Does that mean you're gonna change soon? Or am I not worthy enough?_

Aeron was not impressed by Sora's new weapon. "Oh, so you got a new Keyblade... big deal!" He pointed his chain-whip at Sora and snarled. "What are you even gonna do with that pretty little toy?"

"Simple," Sora grinned confidently. "I'm gonna do what I do best. Fight with and for my friends!" He saw that Arianne's elemental artillery was slowly amassing, and so he decided to take action. _You ready for this, Reina?_

_More than ready, My new Master._ The Spirit confirmed through their mental link.

Collecting pink and red energy around Destiny's Heart, Sora channeled Donald's magical might and summoned a platoon of fireworks, ignited and ready to launch.

"FANTASIA!"

And launch is what they did. The firework rockets launched from above Sora and whizzed and streaked over to the two Immortals. With no time to react, they had to weather the full force of the magical firework blasts. Most of the rockets struck Arianne, which not only halted her Elemental Barrage attack, but it also had the effect of knocking her out, leaving Aeron all alone to face the Keyblade Bearer of Destiny.

"Useless old hag!" Aeron screamed at the out-of-it Arianne. He then returned attention to Sora. "Okay, fine, we'll do this the old fashioned way, one on one!" Aeron reared back, his whip joining him, before he snapped it forward, unleashing a torrent of energy as he did. "Dragon Wave!"

The energy torrent took the form of a serpentine, Oriental-style dragon. Sora didn't bunch an inch from the palm tree in the face of the blast racing to him. Like before, he chose to channel the spirit of his friend, this time choosing the stoic defence Goofy possessed. He crossed his arms over his body in a protective manner and called out, "Diamond Shell!"

A shield of magical energy formed in front of Sora, taking the form of a large diamond that looked like it was made out of reptilian scales. The dragon made an impact against the shield, but the shield didn't falter or even waver. It remained constant, as the energy tried its hardest to pierce it, and then was completely reflected by the Diamond Shell ability!

Needless to say, Aeron was taken aback, seeing that his own attack was being bounced right back at him. He got over the shock of seeing the reflected Dragon Wave, and took action, snapping his whip outward and hooking the still unmoving Arianne by the waist. He dragged his uneasy Ally to his side and then held her up the scruff of her collar, imposing her body between himself and the blast.

Seconds before the attack hit, Arianne realized what was happening "Aeron! You BASTAAAAAAARD!"

The blast hit her full force, ripping her to shreds. Even the Immortal shield wasn't enough to save Aeron from his own attack, as some of the energy bypassed Arianne and clipped him along his face. When the attack ran its course, Arianne was sapped of all strength, her body slowly beginning to disintegrate into darkness. A terrible, pitch dark wound was torn into her chest. Sora could only look on in disgust as Aeron tossed the dying Arianne aside, letting her pass on in freefall.

"I hope you burn in hell..." Were the final words of the elemental Immortal, Arianne, as her body evaporated into a black mist.

"Whatever." Aeron shrugged the curse off, as if it was nothing. He then spied Sora and the abhorrent look on his face. "Oh, don't you start." Aeron turned his whip back into the Zanbato and then teleported away, reappearing behind Sora. He took a slash with the blade, but Sora jumped away to ground level to avoid the strike. "Don't start your stupid speeches about camaraderie and friendship. This is the real world, where if you can't stand on your own two feet, by yourself, then you're nothing!"

Sora stood his ground. "We'll see about that!" As Aeron leaped off the palm tree and charged Sora, he held Destiny's Heart above his head, the new Keyblade shining with golden and purple light. "Ars Concero!" Sora pulled his hands in opposite direction, splitting Destiny's Heart into twin gold and purple energy swords. He spun his blades around, holding the one in his left hand in a backhand grip.

With his left blade, Sora blocked the initial strikes with Aeron's zanbato, before he managed to get a strike in with right sword. The burning slash from the energy sabre was more than enough to stun Aeron and leave him completely open to a vicious thirteen strike combo. After the attack, Sora back off, reforming the energy blades into the Keyblade, and leaving Aeron down on one knee, his chest bleeding and smoking from the assault.

"Let this be a lesson, Aeron." Sora held Destiny's Heart high above his head, giving Aeron hard, determined stare. Aeron returned it with a frightened look of his own. "Don't mess with my friends!" The Keyblade suddenly exploded into a plume of red, purple, and gold energy, transforming into a much larger version of itself, made entirely out of spiritual energy.

"Ars Clavis!"

The large key began to spin around at a great velocity, as Sora brought it down in front of him, thrusting the spinning energy Keyblade forward. Aeron tried to block it with his zanbato, but the sword simply destroyed by the drilling motions of the Ars Clavis attack. Without any weapon or armour to save himself, the spinning Keyblade pierced Aeron's chest, drilling deep into him with violent force, before the attack ran its course, launching Aeron off the spinning blade and sending him flying to the shoreline.

A massive, bloody crater had been formed in his chest, and the crater was slowly leaking dark mist. Aeron's life was slowly slipping away. Even so he managed one last cocky scowl, aiming it at Sora, before his life was completely drained away, leaving Sora victorious.

"Phew!" Sora exclaimed, sitting down on the beach. He turned to his friends, who were slowly getting back to their feet. Namine was passing out Cure spells to the party. "Let's never do that again!" Sora smiled at the group.

"Oh please!" Kalyn snarked at the brunet. "You got a bump on your head and got to be the big damn hero! You didn't go through half the hell we did!" Sora laughed nervously at Kalyn's tirade. She was certainly a different type of Keyblader.

"I thought you did great." Kairi knelt down next to Sora and kissed him on the cheek. "My knight in shining armour..." She teased in a flirty manner, running her fingers along his chest. Sora blushed in response, as per usual.

"Easy with the celebratory lovin' you two," Roxas teased them himself, "We got a long day ahead of us. Another... six Immortals, if my count is correct."

"I'm already exhausted." Ed huffed. "And it's not even noon yet!"

Sora nodded as the facts slowly poured in. This was it. The end of the Immortals. He looked around, seeing everyone gathered here and back home, especially focusing on Kairi. The brave, fiery, cheerful Kairi he had fallen in love with. That's what he wanted more than anything else. A future with Kairi. And, Immortals be damned, he was going to have that future!

* * *

Within a dark cloud, they watched the Immortal known as Aeron be torn apart by Sora, his new Keyblade and his new technique. The black-haired Weapons Master fell to the ground, fading into darkness with a cocky smirk on his face.

"...Everyone get it now?" Anarados said abruptly to the collected Nobodies surrounding him.

Anarados and his twelve humanoid Nobodies sat within the meeting room of the former Organization XIII, each one of them sitting upon one of their former thrones. All of the chairs were raised to an even height, except for Xemnas's throne, which was around a foot higher than the others. It was occupied by none other than Anarados. A dark cloud was formed in the middle of the circle of chairs, summoned by Maleficent's crystal ball. The artifact only had a small amount of energy left, now that it's mistress was dead, so it would most likely burn out soon. The Nobodies were putting it to good use while they had it, scrying upon the Immortals and Keybladers

"Not really..." A male Nobody replied, scratching his head. His name was Rittaxsagius, and he sat four chairs to the right of Anarados. "I mean I like watching the Immortals get smoked but-"

Loxe – who sat five chairs left of Anarados – broke in. "It's proving a point." Her voice had an air of intelligence within it. "The Immortals may be comparatively stronger than the Organization, but Sora's new strength allow him and his friends to just plow through them like they were nothing. The Nobodies were a consistent threat to Sora through and through." She turned to Anarados and added, "Correct?"

"Correct. So I created you twelve to prove a point." He extended his arms out to the twelve cloaked figures. "My Zodiac Exalts."

"Wonderful!" A chirpy, oddly happy voice sounded. It was Cepssix, who sat at Anarados's immediate right. "Now, can we watch the rest of the action, so long as that crystal ball has juice?" While her voice had an inflection of childlike joy and exuberance, it all possessed a twinge of sadistic pleasure.

"I suppose..." Anarados intoned, pleasing his Nobody retinue. Beneath his helmet, Anarados had his eyes trained on one person within the cloud. _Soon, Sora... Very, very soon._

**To Be Continued**

_(A/N 1): Ends of the Earth, to those that played BBS. Also, I just realized the irony of giving a guy named TERRA a Keyblade named CELESTIAL Guide._

_Well, there we are. Also, I should note that I am planning something special for all my fans in the next few months. I can't tell you know, but it is not a piece of Fanfiction, or even writing in general. If I can pull it off, it should be awesome!_

_Also, the sitting order of the Zodiac Nobodies is based on the proper order of the Western Zodiac symbols: Aries at Anarados's direct left, all the way to Pisces at his exact right.  
_

_And remember, I do have a poll on my profile page, so check it out!_

**Chapter Preview** (Which will now be shortened to build suspense for the climax chapters...)

_Next Chapter: Where Infinity meets Nothing! **Genesis of Destiny, Chapter 41: The Calm Before the Storm!**_

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_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	41. The Calm Before The Storm

_So, I've been thinking like mad for the past few days, so the beginning notes are sort of going to be a stream of consciousness sort of thing. Very random_

_Well, those lucky Japanese bastards are getting a Final Mix for BBS. Doesn't look like much has been added. Just the stuff from the International version of the game, a new arena at the Mirage Arena, a boss battle against Monstro of all things, and yet a third superboss, this one looking like Master Eraqus in armour. I also noted that, when the camera pans around the Eraqus boss, you can see Terra in his armour, meaning it will be a Mirage Arena boss._

_I've been thinking about where KH is going to go from here, and I came up with an interesting theory. If Xehanort still needs the X-Blade, he would need two more beings, one of light, one of darkness. Without Ven and Vanitas, we'll need knew beings. In the modern canon, we already have seven beings of light, the Princesses of Heart. So, this means that a being of darkness could fuse with Kairi, possess her and create the X-Blade. Thus, fulfilling my dream of an evil Kairi in canon. _

...

_YES! YES! DO IT! PLEASE!_

_Also, last chapter I mentioned a non-writing project that would sort of be a treat for my fans. Well, since I want to do this, it will help a friend out for a school project, and the idea interests me, in the near future you may see what I like to call a "dramatic voicing" (re: dramatic reading) of Genesis of Destiny. That is, me and a few of my friends reading some excerpts of GOD, fully voiced and in a dramatic manner. Like an anime with no visuals. I just need a mic and I will be all set. Also, although I have a few ideas planned for the excerpts, I am also willing to let any of you nominate any excerpts from the story you would like. Although I would prefer dialogue heavy chapters, they can also be narrative heavy as well. The one restriction I have, is try and keep the character number low, since I don't have too many people to voice at my disposal._

_To any fans that are worried about SoKai sex in my stories, fret not. If there is ever a sex scene, it will be (mostly) off-screen and implied, not on-screen and explicitly. A little twist of lime to the story, instead of a full lemon added into the mix.  
_

Chapter 41: The Calm Before The Storm

Following the defeat of Arianne and Aeron, the victorious heroes returned home, only to be greeted by Terra and Aqua. The knights had arrived shortly after Sora left (a very suspicious turn of events, the majority of the party thought, including several of the adults) and they were now ready to depart for their final confrontation with the Immortals. Protestation came from all sides, with the general complaint being that the majority Keybladers were all exhausted and banged from the fight with the twin Immortals. Terra and Aqua did their best to assuage the fears and concerns of the heroes and their family, informing them that their destination was several hours away, so everyone had time to rest, heal, eat, and plan.

Even though the arrival of the knightly Keybladers signaled the group's departure, this exodus of the Islands was, for once, not a hasty one. Everyone was given time to say their goodbyes to their loved ones. Unfortunately, Sora and Kairi had been corralled into the living room, confronted by all four of their parents. A certain line Sora had said a half hour ago was on their minds (some more so than others), and they decided it was time to call them out on it.

"So," Julia Minami began speaking, very upbeat and cheerful. Both she and Allison shared a similar disposition, while Dias stood at the back of the room, watching with laughing eyes. Aiden, to put it lightly, wasn't in as good a mood as the others. "Sora. Kairi. We were all wondering..." She looked like she didn't know where to begin. "Sora said something and everyone here thought-"

Aiden, stewing in his own discomfort and anger, chose to cut to the chase. "What did you mean when you said 'I love her'?"

Kairi gave Sora a sideways glance, while the brunet had an embarrassed look on his face. "Aw, jeez... I said that aloud? I thought that was just the bump on my head..." He gave a sheepish chuckle, but that did little to soothe Aiden, who was giving Sora the "touch my daughter and I will throttle you" look. With a sigh, Sora said calmly and confidently, "I meant what I said... sir." He added the last part hastily. "I love her." The two then shared a smile, a quick, chaste kiss, and held hands, all in without hesitation before their parents. Showing was better than telling, after all.

"No. No, no, no!" While the other parents were all very pleased and overjoyed by the display of love, Aiden quickly and vehemently protested this. "I'm sorry, but I will not have this."

"You 'will not have this'?" Kairi repeated, taken aback by her father's extreme disapproval. Yes, he was very gruff outside of his family and political appointments, and his dislike of any boy who came calling after her or Erica was very well known, but this was a taking it to another level. "Are you saying that I can't date Sora?"

"Aiden, would you please just calm down and hear these two out." Allison said, her requests falling on deaf ears. "At the very least?"

Julia was trying to calm Aiden down, as per doctor's orders, but the mayor of the island-town of Salm kept on going. "I do not enjoy the prospect of my daughter hanging out with, let alone dating him!" He pointed right at Sora. He then turned to Julia. "Do you really think he's good enough for Kairi?"

Now, Allison was starting to get ticked. She took charge, knowing Dias would just hang back, calmly. "You know, you keep going on and on about how Sora's not good enough for Kairi. Well, how so?" She called Aiden out on it. "Why is my son so unworthy of dating your precious daughter who you cannot help but heap praise upon?"

"You really need a reason?" Aiden shouted back. Of course, that was a mistake, yelling at Sora's mother like that. The brunet woman glared back at Aiden, making him gulp and take a pace back. He continued, in a much softer tone. "He's a complete miscreant! Can you honestly say he's a good child? After how many times he's been sent home from school due to delinquency, after all the detentions for stupid stunts and fights? He vanished for over a year, worrying you and Dias to death, and he just shows up one day, out of the blue, and takes no responsibility for any of it? Face it! He's a scrawny, irresponsible, lazy slacker who-"

"Aiden, if you badmouth my son one more time, I'm going to punch you out."

The sentence was spoken by Dias, with such earnestness and seriousness that it instantly quieted the entire room. His eyes reflected the tone of his voice, hard as jade, and were focused solely on Aiden, who, once again, backed down from the Alleris family's solidarity.

"Um... if we could get a word in here?" Kairi interrupted the unpleasant silence. All eyes fell on the redhead. "I know that after everything that's happened today, this is pretty much one of the last things a lot of you want to hear. Or maybe it's the best thing in the world, I don't know... We've dumped a lot on you in the past two days, but you're going to have to face the facts." She looked directly at her father during the last line. "This is real. This is... apparently a long time coming according to everyone else. Sora and I are together now.

"And I don't want to hear anything about how Sora isn't good enough for me." Again, she directed this at her dad, without saying anything specifically. "He is! He's more than 'good enough' for me. Yeah, he may not be the perfect person, but... he really cares about me. So many times, out there, he had gone through hell and back, sacrificed everything and anything he could, just to make me happy. To save me. To be with me." By this point, her voice was thick with emotion and tears were pooling in her purple-blue eyes. She had gone over this fact in her head over and over and over, but she had never said them aloud. It was as if she was really confirming it. Confirming it to the world. Just how much she cared for Sora. "If anything, I'm not good enough to be with Sora."

She felt a bit of pressure squeezing down on her hand. Turning her head, she saw that it was Sora's doing, clasping her hand all the harder. The original Key Bearer showing off a half-proud, half-shy smile. Kairi returned the shy smile.

"You're ah... You're more than good enough, Kairi. You're perfect."

As the two shared their moment, Aiden Minami continued to share his displeasure of the situation with everyone else, frowning deeply, eyes trained on Sora. His wife saw this, and quickly intervened. "Dear? I think maybe you should return to the office. They're probably in disarray without you."

Aiden coughed into his hand and nodded. "Right. Thank you, Julia. And thank you again for your... hospitality, Allison." Before he left, the honourable mayor of Salm faced his adopted daughter and told her, sternly and point-blank. "When you get home, we're going to sit down and talk about this... business of yours, young lady." With that, he left the Alleris household at a brisk pace.

Allison sighed in relief, very loudly. "Well, that went better than expected." She then looked over her shoulder, expecting to see Dias, but her husband had already sneaked out of the room.

Julia approached her adopted daughter as soon as Aiden had left, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "Kairi, I know that you're father seems very rough and tyrannical at times," she began, softly, "but he really does love you girls. He wants what's best for you, to protect you. He's just never been good at expressing that in the right way." Both mother and daughter shared a smile. Although Kairi did want to know about her past and her birth family, she wouldn't forget about this family. The ones who took in a complete stranger and raised her as a second daughter. Even if her father could be a little overbearing at times, she loved them all the same.

"I think he's also a little put off by how much you've changed in this short while." Julia added.

Kairi blinked. "'Changed'?"

"Yes, dear." Julia smiled down on her daughter again. "You've become a lot... stronger. That's the best way to put it. Even know, I can see in your eyes how much you've grown. I can imagine how he'd been taken aback, now that, by all accounts, you're this brave warrior, and not the quiet, demure girl happy to stay in the background for the time being." She then added with an even warmer smile, "I like it, though."

"Thanks, mom." Kairi returned the smile, and gave her mother a tight, loving hug.

"Whenever you get back, I'll leave the porch light on. For you and Namine."

Across, the room, Sora and his own mother were engaged in a bout of awkward silence. Although he had not been thinking about it during the fight, he still recalled his mother's discomfort with him fighting while injured. It pained him to see her this distressed, and he wanted to address it, to try and make her feel better before he set off on the last leg of his quest.

"Hey, mom..." He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Are you...okay?" 'Are you okay'. Such a stupid thing to ask in this situation.

As expected, Allison Alleris shook her head. "No. I'm not." She was looking down at the floor as she spoke, hands gripping tightly on the fabric of skirt. "I... You don't need me anymore, Sora."

Sora didn't really know how to respond to that statement. "W-why do you say that?"

"Because you don't." She repeated, sadly. "You just don't anymore. I mean... look at you now! You've turned into this brave, strong, independent warrior, who can do anything he sets his mind too..." He voice filled with even more morose, as she continued to stare downward. "My little boy is gone, you don't need protecting anymore. You don't need me..."

The two stood across from each other, closed in and in an awkward manner. Not enjoying this quiet, sad, awkward moment with his own mother – a woman he was used to see smiling and laughing and enjoying life even in the most mundane moment – so he smiled slightly and spoke.

"Yeah, I do." With his index finger and thumb, Sora lifted up his mother's head by the chin. The two were at a matching height, and shared the same ocean blue eyes, which were now looking into one another. "You're my mom, of course I still need you. I've grown up a bit, yeah, but I'm still me. I'm still the kid who used to come crying home every time I scraped my knee or bumped my head. I may not need you to keep me safe or anything like that, but... I need someone to keep faith in me."

"Sora..." The morose left Allison, and was soon replaced by a sense of pride and joy in her son. Before she could say anything, he locked her in a hug, resting her chin on her shoulder.

"We have to go now." He said, still hugging her. "But I'll be back. I promise." Sora pulled back from the hug, but still kept his hands on his mom's shoulders. "Just make sure there are some leftovers for me when I get back, 'kay?"

Allison smiled at that. "Of course."

With one last, brief hug, Sora and Kairi left the living room to head off to _The Ark_.

Apparently, Kairi had watched and heard Sora's exchange with his mother. A teasing smile on her lips, she leaned over as the two walked side-by-side. "You're such a mama's boy, Sora."

"Yeah, I am." He admitted freely. "But you like me for it, all the same."

"You're right. I do." Hand in hand, the two wielders of the Keyblade exited the rancher-style home, off to the final confrontation with the Immortals.

Meanwhile, after slipping out of the living room, Dias searched around for three specific people, finding them quick enough.

"From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank the two of you for helping my son all this time." Dias crossed his right arm over his chest and bowed deeply before Donald Duck and Goofy, who were joined by King Mickey.

"Aw, schucks. You don't have to be so formal about it, sir." Goofy blushed and chuckled at Dias's display.

Donald agreed with his longtime friend. "Yeah. We were just following the King's orders is all."

"You two are too modest," Dias returned. He offered his hand to the knight and court wizard. "From my understanding, my son may not be with us if it weren't for you two." In turn, both Donald and Goofy shook Dias Alleris's hand. "I – my entire family – owes you a debt because of it."

Mickey spoked up. "Well, why don't you all come to Disney Castle one day?" Mickey gave a sly wink to Dias, and the comment made the man burst in joyous laughter. Goofy and Donald couldn't help but be confused by this.

"Uh... I don't get what's so funny." Donald admitted, whispering it to the taller Goofy.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say the King and Sora's dad are friends." Goofy whispered back.

Instantly, the feathered mage dismissed the thought. "Nah, that's crazy, Goofy."

Clearing his throat, Dias pressed on "Whatever the case may be, I can rest easy knowing my son is in safe hands." Even though Sora was always considered "the hero", Dias was right. He wouldn't have gotten anywhere without Donald and Goofy. The famous trio had been through thick and thin together and come out all the better. Ironically, the greatest display of Donald and Goofy's assistance was just prior to the second battle with Larxene in Castle Oblivion, an event that neither they, nor Sora, remembered.

"You can count on us, sir!" Goofy declared, saluting as he did. "We'll watch over Sora as best we can!"

Donald nodded. "Yeah. Nothing bad'll happen to him, so long as he's got us!"

Dias smiled in appreciation. "Thank you. Now, I'll send you three on your way. Fair travel to you all!" The Disney trio and Dias shared goodbyes, before departing, but not before Mickey gave Dias a knowing nod.

Across the house, Allison had found her way to Roxas's location, finding the blond pacing in a hallway, waiting for someone or thinking about something.

"Oh... sorry, I didn't see you there, ma'am." Roxas said, slightly startled at Allison's slight appearance. She smiled it off.

"What are you doing out here, Roxas?" She asked cordially. The blond shrugged.

"Just waiting. Everyone's doing one thing or another so I'm just hanging out here."

"I see." The two smiled awkwardly at one another. It was clear that something similar was on their minds, bugging them. "Listen, I've been thinking about this since the other day, but... when you're done with all this hubbub tonight, are you coming home? Here? With us?"

Roxas had to think about it for a moment. Although the fact that he was technically Sora's twin hadn't alluded him, he had yet to think about what he would do after defeating the Immortals. Where he would go or stay. "I... yeah. I guess I am Sora' brother so, I... I mean, if you would have me, I would like to stay here."

"Of course." Allison beamed at the blond lookalike of her son, and Roxas smiled back, shyly, as he still felt slightly uncomfortable around the woman. Suddenly, Allison rushed up to Roxas and grabbed him in an airtight hug.

Roxas yelped in surprise. "Ah...ma'am?" Allison retreated for a brief moment, tears welling in her eyes, looking proudly onto Roxas.

"Mom." She said, almost correcting Roxas. "Please, I... After Sora, I always wanted another child, but we had a lot of trouble conceiving, so... it just never happened. But now..." She lovingly rubbed Roxas's arms, smiling brighter than ever before. "I have you. Roxas... my new son."

Needless to say, Roxas was taken aback by Allison's generosity. Here she was, in no position to open her home to someone who was, essentially, a complete stranger, but she was. What's more, she was immediately ready to declare him a second son, showing the love that she always showed Sora for the past fifteen years. To say the least, Roxas was touched.

Allison quickly regained her composure, wiping tears from her eyes, and smiling again. "Now, do you want me to prep up the guest bedroom? Or, would you prefer to sleep on the pull-out couch in the basement?"

"I...uh, I think I'd like the basement... Mom." Mom. He had said it, first time in his life. He had never had a mom, or even a family before. Axel may have been a surrogate big brother to him, but now... Yesterday, Roxas was on the brink of death, and today, he found himself apart of a loving family with a mother, a father, and a brother.

He was happy beyond words.

Outside, Namine was sitting on the porch railing, waiting like Roxas was. Out of her peripheral vision, she could spy Edward and Alphonse talking to one another, and, ahead on the beach, she saw the pinpoint of light that allowed the party to travel to and between _The Ark_, as well as Dayne, standing stoically next to the light.

"Guess who?"

An energetic female voice rang in Namine's ear, as, simultaneously, her vision was blocked by two objects covering her eyes. The voice seemed awfully familiar, but, with her limited memories, Namine couldn't place it exactly, and only managed a short "Uh..."

"And here I thought you would never forget your sister." The objects – the speaker's hands – removed themselves, as the speaker herself sat on the rail next to Namine. Upon seeing the black locks tied in a ponytail, and the sweet, intelligent face, Namine instantly placed the person. It was Kairi's adopted sister, Aiden and Julia's birth daughter, Erica.

"Erica!" Namine said in legitimate surprise. Erica had been absent for the proceedings last night and earlier today due to the summer courses she was taking at a community college on Maydel, a neighbouring island to the east of Salm.

"That's right!" Erica exclaimed, cheerful and energetic as was her way. "Just so I don't mess up... it's Namine, correct?" When the blonde replied in confirmation, Erica squealed with joy and hugged Namine across the shoulders. "Nice to meet you then, sis."

Namine wasn't quite as enthused as the older, raven-haired teen. "Why do you keep calling me that?" She asked, Erica still keeping an arm around Namine.

Erica giggled a little at her question "Now, why wouldn't I? I mean, to the best of my understanding, you're Kairi's sister now right?" Namine nodded along. "Right! Well, I'm Kai's sis too. Add two and two together and..." Once again, Namine didn't share Erica's excitement, which drew a look from the older teen. "What's wrong?"

Namine remained silent, uncomfortable with exposing herself to someone who was technically a stranger. Sensing this, Erica put a hand on Namine's thigh and continued, her voice much more controlled and even. "Look, Namine, while I don't know everything about it, I do get that you've had a tough life. That you're use to being alone." She shook her head at the blonde, ex-Nobody. "Not anymore. We took Kairi in, and we're going to do the same to you. Dad may seem like a hard ass, but he does care. He loves Kairi just as much as he loves me, and I bet he'll feel the same way about you."

Namine shifted uncomfortably on the rail. "I guess, I'm still getting used to the idea of having a family." She said, quietly. "Of having a normal life." Erica smiled.

"Well, get used to it. 'Cause it's happening." She then saw that Roxas had exited the house, joining the two girls on the porch. "Looks like you have a visitor." Jumping off the railing and landing on the beach, Erica began to walk off. "I'll leave you kids to yourselves. See you when you get back here, sister."

"Yeah..." Namine said. As Erica began to leave, Namine hastily added in a shout. "Sister!" Erica "whooped" in a sign victory, as she left.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, Roxas hoisted Namine off the railing, spun her around lightly, and kissed her on the forehead. "What was that about?" Roxas asked.

"Nothing." Namine returned, smiling up at her boyfriend. "I was just having a nice, little chat with my sister."

"Huh. I was doing the same inside, with my mom."

Back inside the Alleris household, Riku and Eira Shiozaki were currently engaged in a discussion of their own. Riku knew that this conversation would be coming, he could see it in his mother's face. Ever since she had found out about the Keyblade and his quest – from dark disciple, to losing his being, to his path of redemption – she was worried to death about him possibly repeating such a fatal event again. And he knew why, even ignoring that fact that he was her only child.

When Riku was nine-years-old, Neir Shiozaki, Riku's father, passed away, survived by his wife and child. Months before this tragedy happened, Neir was working as a ship captain for a shipping company located on Salm. Eventually though, the company was forced out of business. Salm is a fairly small island, especially when compared to the islands where the other major shipping companies were located. So, it was only an inevitability for Neir's company to reach obsolescence and be unable to compete with the other companies. Frustrated by this fact, Neir decided that he would use this time off from work to do what he'd always wanted to do: captain a vessel and sail across the ocean farther than anyone else had before.

He christened the ship _The Excalibur_ and set off, promising to both son and wife that he would be back. Two days after setting sail, a freak storm hit the archipelago, and a day after the storm passed, the wreckage of _The Excalibur_ was found, washed up on shore. Although no body was found, the signs were clear that Neir Shiozaki had met his end.

Ever since that day, Eira became very worrisome and overprotective of Riku, while Riku tried to embody the spirit of his father, becoming more daring and adventurous. It didn't sit well with Eira to see her precious son skirt death ever day in such a way.

"So...um...I'll be back sometime tonight." Riku stammered uncomfortably. His mother wasn't saying anything, or moving much, just staring sadly at her son. It was another affect of Neir's passing. "I don't know when, but...I'll be back. You can count on it." Again, no response. "Mom...could you please just talk to me."

Eira sighed, shutting her eyes briefly. "What do you want me to say, Riku?" She asked. "We both know how I feel. How... I don't want anything to happen. How I'd much rather have you stay here." Riku looked down, ashamed, only to have his mother prop his head up. "But... I know who you are. You have that same spirit your father had, to always be the first and to never back down. That's sort of why I married him... Regardless, I may worry all day today, but I won't keep you from doing what you have to do. Even if you're all I have left..."

Riku smiled down on his much shorter mother. "You won't lose me, mom. I've learned my lesson. I'll be strong, protect my friends, and come back to you." Not very good at expressing his emotions, Riku just stood before his mother, two smiling in awkward silence, before they said their goodbyes and Riku left to join the party.

Along the way though, he came across Kalyn, who was sitting under a palm tree, staring out at the ocean with wistful eyes. He decided to join her.

"Hey." He greeted.

She barely acknowledged his appearance. "Hey..."

"What are you up to?"

"Just thinking, Riku."

"The ocean can do that." Riku himself had spent countless hours, staring at the endless blue ocean, just thinking and thinking. "What about?"

Kalyn summoned Freedom, sighing and turning the crystalline blue blade over and over. "I've been thinking about this Keyblade... About fighting. Although I admit I haven't know all of you for that long, when I see any of you fight, you fight fiercely and without hesitation or malaise, but... you don't seem to hold any contempt or malice for your enemy. Even when you fought Maleficent, I could see it in your eyes, you didn't enjoy smashing her apart, you just did it." She shook her head, brown locks flying to and fro. "Not me. I... I relish in the fight. In injuring my opponent and ruining their strategies. Arianne read me and told me as such." She looked out onto the ocean again, staying silent for a few seconds, before saying, "I'm different from all of you. I'm missing something."

"Maybe." Riku assessed. He was beginning to enjoy Kalyn's company more and more. Although he liked the general niceness and energy of some of his other girl friends like Kairi and Namine, he was becoming quite accustomed to Kalyn's low-keyed snarkiness and cynicism. "But, like you said, you're new at this. Adventuring across the galaxy and being a Key Bearer, it has its growing pains. Whatever it is you're missing, you'll find it."

"Yeah, but, this journey is almost over. After today, I'm going back to Ivalice, and whatever it is I'm searching for in me isn't there." Kalyn hugged her knees up to the chest, tucking her head in between her legs, falling completely silent. After the tide crashed up onto the beach once, twice, thrice, four times, she raised her head up and asked, "Riku... do you think, after today, I could stay here?"

The request took Riku aback. "I... don't know, Kalyn. I mean... I would like you to." As soon as he admitted the fact, his face reddened. Kalyn chuckled at the sight, at how easily embarrassed Riku got.

"Hey, Riku... Riku, I think-"

"Hey, you two! Hurry up, we have to get going!"

Roxas's calling cut off the whatever Kalyn was going to say, leaving the Ivalician girl flustered, nowhere to go to. And so, Riku greeted his friend, joining the slowly gathering party. Kalyn sighed to herself, and joined too, albeit at a much slower, resigned pace.

The next two along the path of the party, were none other than the Elric brothers, who were currently making small talk.

"Oh boy!" Ed patted his stomach with glee. He had been lucky to snag the remaining pancakes after the battle with Aeron and Arianne, devouring them with absolute satisfaction. "One thing I'm for sure gonna miss about this crazy adventure is Mrs. Alleris's cooking. Those pancakes were excellent."

Alphonse nodded along, his brother had been raving about the food for sometime now. "Oh! That reminds me." The younger Elric dug into his loincloth, taking out a small leather-bound journal and a pen. "I think I'll had Mrs. Alleris's pancakes to the log of things I have to try when I gain my body back!"

Ed laughed slightly while Al scribbled into his journal. A realization slowly dawned upon Ed. "Hey, Al, I'm sorry about all this. We kind of got sidetracked from the Philosopher Stone, getting your body back, with all this crazy stuff...Keyblade and Immortals." He then grinned, widely and right at Al. "But, hey, I figure we'll get out of this craziness tonight and get right back to work tomorrow."

"Mhmm." Al agreed. "And, hey, it may be like Riku says, brother. The Keyblade does create some marvelous things, maybe it will help us find the Stone."

"I guess..." Like magic, Ed didn't truly believe in that "hokey stuff". Either way, the brothers were eventually swept up by the party, as they continued towards the speck of light that would take them to _The Ark_.

Speaking of which, Dayne still stood stoically next to the pinpoint, still waiting for everyone else. But someone else had joined him, though her presence wasn't known to Dayne until she spoke.

"Why aren't you with the others?" Aqua asked, startling Dayne. He did his best to hide it.

"Don't have any reason to." He stated simply. "Everyone else has someone to share pleasantries with, to say goodbye to. I don't."

Aqua nodded, listlessly. She could feel something wrong with Dayne, just standing next to him. "Are you okay, Dayne?"

"I'm fine." He said, abruptly and rudely. "Besides, even if I wasn't okay, why would I talk to you about it?" Dayne would admit that he thought Aqua was better than her brother, but he still had a high level of distrust of the knights.

"No reason, other than to get something off your chest. If something's bothering you, talking about it can do wonders."

"That argument really shouldn't work..." Dayne sighed under his breath. Despite his complaint, he knew Aqua was right. Something was eating at him, and he didn't want to worry Kairi or anyone else with it. Telling her was the best solution. "Ever since Rain died... I don't know. I've been in a funk! Every time I fought after that, I've done no good. It's always Sora or Kairi that save the day. I've just been a liability. Weak, tired, injured, ineffectual. Just...something is wrong with me."

"Rain's death wasn't you're fault, Dayne."

"I know that." Dayne told her, bristling slightly. "I know Rain's death wasn't my fault."

"Do you?" Aqua looked at the tall warrior, eying his posture, seeing that he was gritting his teeth. If he was fine, then his body was certainly acting in a peculiar manner. "There's a difference between just saying it and really accepting it." Dayne looked away from the blue-haired knight. "In your heart, you may still be holding onto that, blaming yourself for it, for not being strong enough to stop Cassius in time. That maybe what's affecting you. And if it is...well, no one else can help you get over that. The onus would be on you."

Dayne rolled his eyes, making an annoyed sound. "...Thanks, Aqua." At that moment, the rest of the group arrived at the edge of the beach.

"Everyone's here then?" Aqua mentally counted through the group. Three from Disney Castle, the alchemist brothers, the lone Ivalician, the reformed Immortal, and the five original Key Bearers. "Alright then. Time for us to get going."

* * *

Following a lunch provided by Terra, and some last minute medical treatment from Aqua, Terra gathered the fourteen-person crew in a meeting room aboard _The Ark_.

"Before we cross into the Severed Realm, and reach Infinity Paradiso," Terra began, addressing the party without his usual bizarre air surrounding him. The brunet knight was fully serious for this. "I think it would be best for us to discuss our strategy and finally reveal to you what the Immortals are planning."

"Well it's about time." Ed grumbled.

"Actually, Ed, this is about par for the course. Normally we don't learn about the big bad's plans before the final conflict." Sora pointed out. Ed just rolled his eyes.

Terra continued on. "Whatever the case may be... I believe Dayne informed you about a tidbit of Cassius's human life. That he was a monk who had access to various ancient texts and apocrypha." Some of the group nodded, others learning of this information for the first time. "Well, during his time of studying these texts, the human Cassius came across an old legend.

"Thousands of years ago, before the Keyblade even existed, the Gods felt a collective sense of ennui and lethargy governing the universe they created. So, in order to keep their creation running, they created a group of twelve, powerful beings, known as the Devas, each responsible for a different field. For a time, everything seemed to be working out with the Devas, until they became corrupted by a malign, unknown dark force. The twelve of them instigated a coup against the Gods, trying to become the true rulers of the universe.

"The Gods fought back, and they did win, eventually defeating all of the Devas. Some, like Bahamut, Odin, Alexander, Valigarmanda, Hades – not the Olympian God Hades that you know, they are two different entities – and Ragnarok saw the error of their ways and willingly let the Gods seal them away into crystals, for the good of the universe.

"If I may go off on a tangent," Terra turned to Riku and the Elrics. "The Devas that were sealed away would become the forefathers of the Eidolons, the summoned creatures used by your friend Trowan and his Summoner Tribe.

"But anyways, other Devas were defeated and forcibly sealed away, while a few more were completely destroyed. But... there was one other Deva, Zirconiade, would not be sealed away in such a manner. He was also too powerful for even the combine might of the Gods and the reformed Devas to completely destroy him. It's physical body was destroyed, and it's soul was sealed into a crystal, but it would not be tamed like the other Devas. So, it remains trapped in the Severed Realm, waiting for the day of its revival.

"And, unfortunately, this is more than a legend. This is absolute fact.

"Upon discovering the Severed Realm, Cassius discovered the sealed Zirconiade, trapped within a castle created from its twisted will. Although he tried to summon it, Zirconiade was rendered inert without a physical body.

"And that's where he devised his plan.

"If Zirconiade could turn debris into a massive fortress, then, with the right material, he could form a body for itself. He decided to use one of the most powerful sources of energy in the universe – the heart. For eighty years, he gathered powerful hearts from all over and offer the energy to Zirconiade, and letting the Deva turn it into a body for it and be revived once more."

"Well...that's certainly an interesting story," Riku said. Everyone in the room were focused solely on Terra, in rapt attention. "But what is the real threat of reviving Zirconiade?"

"Because," Terra explained, "that is only the first part of Cassius's plan. Zirconiade is a threat to all living things. It is an engine of destruction. It's title, in fact, is 'The One That Shall Bathe The World In Flames'. But, Cassius still theorizes that the body created from hearts will only be a temporary shell.

"Upon the revival of the Deva, Cassius will flood the worlds with many Heartless and Nobodies, and then Zirconiade will be unleashed, destroying countless worlds in its wake, before – in theory – it's body fades away."

When Terra finished, something clicked in Sora's mind. "Wait... Destroying worlds with Heartless and Nobodies on them... That would create an army of Immortals, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah." Terra nodded grimly. "An army of Immortals to rule over whatever remains in Zirconiade's fiery wake."

Everyone jumped forward in alarm. "How long until Cassius finishes this?" Kairi asked.

"Don't worry, the clock is on your side for this one." Terra calmed, watching as everyone slowly leaned backwards. "But you've defeated half their numbers, you've pushed them into a corner. Defeat them now, before they have enough time to recover from the losses they've taken.

"But, let's not focus on this for now. We have to move onto our stategy.

"A few weeks ago, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and I scoured the halls of their base, Infinity Paradiso. We found that the way into the upper levels, the way to the Paradisium castle, are sealed off by a type of alchemic lock. The trigger to said lock is apparently located on the very bottom level of castle Pandemonium. We'll need to break that lock if we want to move forward.

"We'll all split into three teams. Mickey, Aqua, and I will stay aboard the ship as a recon team. We'll be in constant communication with you at all times. Edward, Alphonse, Kalyn, Donald, and Goofy will be the "Lock Team". You're job is to head to the basement of the Pandemonium castle and activate the lock trigger. This will allow our "Advance Team" of Sora, Kairi, Riku, Roxas, Namine, and Dayne to advance further into the fortress. When the Lock Team is finished with their work, you'll also have to trek right back up the castle and join the Advance Team. The more we have to face the Immortals, the better."

* * *

Following Terra's debrief of both their plan and the Immortal's plan, _The Ark_ crossed over from the Realm of Light, into the chaotic void of the Severed Realm. The only land mass within the bizarre domain was the landscape that supported Infinity Paradiso, an island of crags, spires, and valleys, all made from an inert, cold grey stone. And, nestled in between a craggy ridge of mountains, was the fused-castle monstrosity that was Infinity Paradiso castle.

Heading off from the ship, the party was oddly unabated by any sort of grunt, mook, or minion. Their advance through the rocky landscape and castle was without incident. They marched forward, no obstacles in their way, reached the halfway point where the teams would break off, Lock Team descending into the basement levels, while the Advance Team climbed ever higher.

Eventually, the Lock Team made their way to the final chamber in castle Pandemonium... which, oddly enough, looked like it included a massive stage in the back. Lighting trusses were set up above the raised platform, with many spotlight illuminating it, amplifiers were set up on either side of the stage, with near silent rock music filtering into the room, and curtains were draped on scaffolding, only pushed back a little bit to reveal the alchemic lock trigger. The trigger itself looked like a very complex transmutation circle, with the circle framing it remaining incomplete.

"This is...odd." Kalyn said as the group entered the room. She kept her eyes peeled for anything strange that might happen.

"I wonder who's playing here tonight?" Goofy asked, looking around for something that could answer his own question.

"I'll tell ya who," Ed said, marching forward to the stage. "Edward and the Alchemists. Let's just finish this and get out of here." The child prodigy alchemist already knew how to solve the lock – simply finish the circle framing the array and then channel some alchemic energy through it, and they are as good as gold.

As soon as Ed climbed up onto the stage, approaching the circle, a spotlight shone down from the truss on him, paralyzing him instantly, as a voice called out to him.

"Hey! Don't you know the stage is for performer's only!"

Appearing from nowhere, was the rock 'n roller Immortal, Starxys. Brandishing his energy guitar, he struck a quick pose, spun around, and smashed Edward with his instrument, sending the alchemist flying back into the crowd.

"How y'all doin' tonight!" Starxys called out to his "audience". "I welcome you one and all to a night of excitement and entertainment! It's the night where I finally get my revenge on – WHOA!"

Kalyn leaped up onto the stage, Freedom in hand, and swung at Starxys halfway through his speech. The goofball Immortal managed to dodge the quick slashes, jumping off the stage, pointing at Kalyn and rambling like a lunatic.

"Hey, hey, HEY! What kinda hero are ya? You're not suppose to attack the villain in the middle of his speech!"

"Tell it to someone who cares!" Kalyn called back, raising Freedom above her head. "Crashing Wave!"

* * *

While the Lock Team was dealing with the musical Immortal, the Advance Team proceeded up the castle, unhindered, and managed to make it to the chamber that stopped Terra. But, something was different, impeding them even further than the alchemic lock. Two chains made of bright energy were stretched across the far wall where the door should be. Suspended in the middle of the room, were two nodes made of the same energy as the chains.

Dayne instantly recognized the system "I thought they might but this up."

"What is it, Dayne?" Kairi asked.

"Another lock system, simpler than the others though." Dayne pointed to the nodes. "Those nodes lead to an alternate plane within the Severed Realm, where an Immortal is waiting. In order for the chains to go down, the nodes must be destroyed, and in order for the nodes to be destroyed, then the Immortal assigned to it must be removed from the plane."

"Removed?" Riku narrowed his eyes at the choice of words. "You mean...killed?"

"Or forced to retreat." Dayne extrapolated for the group. His eyes then fell on the left node. Instantly, something about the node drew him to it. A pulse flickered from the node, into his body, and he knew instantly. He knew what awaited him on the other side. "I... You tackle the right node. The left node is mine." He began to make his move towards the left node, but was stopped by someone grabbing his coat. It was Kairi.

"No Dayne." She insisted. The fire was back in her eyes. "Haven't you learned anything? You can't just do things by yourself." She turned over to the rest of the group. "Namine and I will go with you. Can you three handle the node?"

"Yeah. We'll be fine." Sora said. A moment later, Roxas, Sora, and Riku approached the right node, touched it, and vanished, off to fight whoever their foe was.

"So...are we going?" Kairi asked Dayne. The ex-bodyguard nodded, looking directly at the shining node, feeling the pulse within him again.

_I'm coming for you, Tallgeese. One way or another, today will be my last stand._

**To Be Continued**

_Well, time for the final chapters to get underway. I hope you all enjoy the ride!_

_Also, Zirconiade is not just something I pulled from my ass. He's actually from a very obscure Final Fantasy game that I doubt any of you (me included) have played. Brownie points for those who can guess it._

_And the poll is still up on the front page if you are interested!  
_

**Chapter Preview**

_Next Chapter: Kaiser, Tallgeese, Starxys. Triple Threat Fight! **Genesis of Destiny, Chapter 42: The Rolling Barrage: The Final Act**_

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**__Please Review_

___SirAngelo  
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	42. The Rolling Barrage: The Final Act

_...Okay, this is gonna take some explanation. This chapter is a long time coming I know, and to you fans who have been waiting patiently...you will be disappointed. I'm sorry. This is awful. I've been having a lot of issues in my life over the past month, most of which haven't been resolved. One of these problems was the incredible difficulty I had writing this chapter. This chapter just had a horrible glacial pace to it, and I apologize for both the wait and the extremely poor quality._

_I do promise that both Chapter 43 and 44 will be much, much, MUCH – infinitely more better than this dreck that I was really wanted to force out and be done with it. But as to when they will be up, I can't say. I'm sorry. Just to note though, if you are asking when the next chapter is coming, please leave a private message instead of a review? My heart swells when I see I have a new review and when its just a question asking when the next chapter is...I kind of sink inside. The next chapters will come up when they come up. I don't have a set schedule because I do have a life outside this fic. I work, I have friends, and I have several outside interests._

_Also to note, I have a new poll up on my profile page that I would like everyone to vote on. I also have a new profile picture, featuring me doing a very lazy cosplay (he-he). I have a new BBS one-shot that is decently done (unlike this chapter). AND I know have a Twiiter account and a Facebook fan page devoted to this fic and the SirAngelo persona. So, please follow and join and view those and all that jazz if you want the behind the scenes info on GOD and your friendly neighbourhood Canadian Angelo._

_Anyways...bleh...onto this crap. I'm sorry guys. I really am._

Chapter 42: The Rolling Barrage: The Final Act

A blinding, all-consuming light wrapped around the bodies of Sora, Riku, and Roxas, dampening all their senses as the node threw them to some far flung pocket hidden with the Severed Realm, to face one of the few remaining Immortals. Whoever that Immortal may be, was anyones guess, though Sora figured that Dayne had been so insistent on going into the left node because he had sense either Tallgeese or Cassius.

Suddenly, still trapped by the light, the three boys felt some invisible force (or it might have been visible, it was impossible to tell from the blinding light) seize them and slingshot them forward into the shining haze, to the node's destination.

The light peeled away, letting the disoriented trio to stumble out into the new area, with none other than Kaiser standing opposite to them. The parallel dimension was...unpleasant to say the least. A blighted, lifeless waste surrounded them in all direction; a rocky, grey and green landscape spanning endlessly. The sky was of similar colouration, sickly green and ash black, swirling around in a building storm. In the immediate area where the three appeared, was a ring of death and even more blight. Bleach white bones of all shapes and sizes from all kinds animals trapped the four of them in a lifeless, grim mockery of a coliseum, though the predatory Kaiser looked right at home amongst the halfway broken rib cages and skulls of great beasts.

Instantly, the Immortal snapped to attention, clearly excited at the appearance of his prey. "You..." He snarled, eyes drawing into slits, jumping from Roxas, to Sora, to Riku, then back to Roxas. "Looks like I got lucky today..."

Kaiser began to walk forward, closing the gap, his movements spastic and strange. As he drew closer, the trio saw that there were several markings, scars, and half-healed wounds covered his body, apparently left over from the battle at the Pride Lands. Even ignoring the scars, he still wasn't in good shape. His clothes were dirty and very tattered, and his hair was even more tangled than usual. Plastered on both his face and in his eyes, was a rueful, demented look that made him look more frightening then ever.

"Kind of fitting, don't cha think?" Kaiser muttered, as he staggered closer and closer to the three. They summoned their Keyblade quickly, to no response from Kaiser. "I was the first Immortal you guys faced...now you get to face me in my own home..." His lips curled into what could only be called a demented parody of a smile.

The three teens from Destiny Islands readied themselves for a fight, but Kaiser just stopped abruptly, swaying slightly like a branch in the wind. He was only a short distance away from the Keybladers, but made no further move. "Besides... I have business with you all." He raised a trembling finger and a yellow, broken fingernail, pointing at the trio. It was shaking and wavering so much that it was not clear who he was pointing to. "Time after time, you punks have beaten me, left me broken and injured...but no." He began to mutter to himself again. "No death, no honourable blaze of glory. Just defeat and humiliation!" His eyes twitched irritably, they were wild and unfocused.

"And now look at me!" He roared, spreading his arms out. "Broken and discarded...once one of the most feared beings in the universe...now, a miserable little worm begging to you guys... All because of you... Feh!" He spat at his own feet, disgust plain on his face.

"What are you going on about?" Sora asked. Kaiser just stared him down. "We didn't do anything to you! You were treated the same as all of our enemies the same way, and they didn't break down like this!"

"They didn't have what I had." He growled lowly. "They didn't have a warrior's pride!"

"Yeah, you got some level of pride, buddy." Roxas commented. "Sneak attacks, insulting your opponents, fighting like an animal. You're not a warrior, Kaiser, you're nothing more than a wild animal!"

"Don't toy with me boy!" Kaiser growled again, this time louder and more threateningly. "Or do we have to send you and your girlfriend through the gauntlet again?"

Roxas frowned, returning Kaiser's glare. "Don't you talk about her...about that..." A gleefully evil smile crossed Kaiser's face.

"So...blondie's got a little sore spot there...huh? Wouldn't be surprised, considering you're just a Nobody after all. Your kind gets all testy and flies off the handle at anything."

"I am not a Nobody!" He snapped. Kaiser smiled triumphantly again, so Roxas caught himself and approached it much calmer. "Not anymore. I'm not a Nobody anymore, I'm a real person. With friends, family...a life...and that's more than you'll ever have, Kaiser!"

A bitter laugh emanated from the crazed Immortal. "All you Somebodies think that makes you so great... Friends and love and family... To me – and many others – they aren't worth anything! You can claim all that crap, but it means nothing. To me, you haven't changed. You're still that little Nobody who joined the Organization, got cold feet, and ran like a little bitch." The three heroes glared again at Kaiser, Roxas harder than anyone else. "You want to prove to me that you've changed? Then bare your entire soul upon your blade!" With a dramatic flourish, Kaiser unsheathed his sword for the first time. It was an unremarkable blade – simply a double-edged longsword crafted of black metal – though it did strangely lack a guard.

"You and I, blondie – one-on-one – a battle of pride and will, and may the better on of use win!"

"You got it!"

Roxas's reply came without a moment's wait, as he approached Kaiser, dismissing Bond of Flames to make it an even contest by only bearing Thirteenth Remnant.

"Be careful..." Riku muttered to his one-time enemy. "Roxas-"

"I got this." He waved his hand back at the silver-haired teen. "If I beat you, then I can beat a freak like this. No problem."

Roxas barely had enough time to finish his statement before Kaiser leaped high into the air, howling like a maniac – as Kaiser was wont to do – before crashing down on empty earth, Roxas having dodged the blow. The two then charged at one another, swinging their blades through the air and connect with one another, unleashing a huge burst of energy, wind, and dust out in all directions.

And it ended almost as quickly as it ended, with Kaiser's sword snapping in two, the upper half flying away, and Roxas's Keyblade sailing through the empty air, slicing through Kaiser along the way. It left a bleeding wound arcing across Kaiser's shoulder, collar, and neck, and causing a fan of blood to spray outward. The beaten and scarred Immortal dropped the broken sword and backed away, sputtering and coughing, blood constantly issuing from his wound, dyeing his entire torso scarlet.

Roxas spun away from his opponent, keeping his eyes on him, while Kaiser continued to stagger around, though his expression betrayed no sense of pain from his wound. Growling through a mouthful of blood, Kaiser gave the trio one last baleful look before he snatched up the severed top half of his sword and drove it into his chest without ceremony, the baleful look serving as his final insult, as his body vanished into blackness following his suicide.

As soon as Kaiser totally vanished, the blinding light returned, along with the seizing and tugging sensation, dragging Roxas, Sora, and Riku back into the atrium chamber they were a moment ago. The only noticeable difference was that one of the chains blocking the door had vanished entirely.

"I..." Roxas blinked to himself, unsure of what to say. "What was that?" He asked, totally bewildered.

"I think...he just gave up." Riku said. "That was one loss too many for him and he just couldn't handle it anymore." He turned to Sora. "What do you think...?"

"I guess." Sora mused, a finger resting on his chin. "But, all that really matters is that he's gone. Right?" His companions shrugged, leaving Sora to sigh and stare at the other node for an indeterminate amount of time, before Roxas realized what was up with him.

"She's gonna be okay, man." He said. "I know what you're going through. I'm worried about Namine, but I know she will be fine in the end."

Sora shook his head. "It's not Kairi I'm worried about. Or Namine. It's... It's Dayne..."

**KHKHKH**

"Get back here!"

"NO!"

"I said get back here, you coward!"

"Clearly you didn't hear me you little psycho but I said – AIIEEEE!"

"Next time I won't miss deliberately!"

Every since Starxys had made his entrance in the Lock Chamber, he and Kalyn had been engaged in battle. Well, it was less of an actual fight and more of a chase after Kalyn quickly destroyed yet another of Starxys's guitars. The swishy Immortal soon made a retreat from the very furious and determined Kalyn, always ahead of her, but always afraid she would nip at his heels. With any kind of distraction out of the way, this allowed Ed and Al to quickly decipher the alchemic puzzle – doubling over the large, intricate array with their own piece of chalk.

"This was almost too easy..." Ed muttered to himself. He and Alphonse were only a few inches from returning to their starting points, close to finishing the contraption and opening the lock.

A blood curdling scream rang throughout the chamber, with everyone turning to see its source. Starxys was currently splayed out on the floor, severed in half and slowly fading away into darkness, surrounded by a pool of evaporating water. Kalyn was standing over the dieing Immortal, smiling cruelly at her own handiwork. Admiring that she had finished yet another Immortal off with ease, but not before the words of another Immortal entered her mind.

"_You fight differently than most Key Bearers. Without remorse, something that you seem to cherish."_

Instantly, she recoiled, horror replacing satisfaction, as she back away from Starxys (who was almost completely gone by now). That stunned horror soon gave way itself, Kalyn's face showing only concern for herself, as she chewed on her lip in thought.

_What... What is wrong with me? Why am I like this?_

"Hey Kalyn? Kalyn? Kalyn!" After the third cry, Kalyn turned to face Ed, who was leaving the room and hiking back to the top of the castle, along with Donald, Goofy, and Alphonse. He saw the look on her face and gave a sideways glance. "You okay?"

Quickly, Kalyn snapped back to her normal disposition. "Of course I am." She said, haughtily. "W-what kind of a question is that, Elric?"

**To Be Continued**

_God...I hate myself right now. Seriously guys, I'm sorry. That was awful. I'm sorry._


	43. Supremacy

_Alright, so it's been a while, hasn't it? Well, I'm sorry for that. I wanted to get an chapter up earlier, but things don't work out how we planned. I should also apologize for the chapter. Although they aren't serious, I do suffer from some mental health problems. I've had issues all my life with depression, anxiety, and self-esteem issues. It's nothing major, okay. I don't want anyone worrying about me, it's just that at times, I sort of... "implode". And that's what happened around the time I posted the last chapter. It's a lame excuse, I know, but it's all that I got, and I will try to keep these issues from affecting the fic again._

_That being said, I would like to address my fans again. If you want to know when the next chapter is coming, please don't leave a review. A lot of times, they're anonymous reviews that leave me unable to contact the person in question. Also, I really get excited when I learn I have a review. So, I ask my fans, if you want to know the status of the story, please either send me a Private Message, or, alternatively, you can join the Facebook Group, or follower my Twitter account, both of which are linked on my home page._

_Just so everyone is aware, the Summon Charm poll is also still on my main page (I'm surprised ME hasn't been getting a lot of love...) and I'd like you to go on ahead and vote if you're interested and haven't already._

_Also, I've sort of been on a gaming binge the past few months, acquiring a PSP, DS, and PS3. Seriously, I have a huge stack of DS games in the drawer next to my desk, along with a few PSP and PS3 games. The sad thing is, nearly every game I own for those three consoles are made by Square, with the exception of God of War III, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, Persona 3, and Pokemon Platinum, Diamond and Heart Gold versions (yes, I'm going to be twenty in three-months, and yes, I still play Pokemon...Shut up!). The eight other games, made by Square._

_I'm such a Square-whore... And a Pokemon whore... I've had Black version on pre-order for a month._

_Okay, my childish passions aside, enjoy the return of GOD, please and thank you!_

_Also, I kind of want some people's thoughts on a few of Square's new projects they recently revealed: Final Fantasy XIII-2, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, and Kingdom Hearts 3D. What do you all think?_

Chapter 43: Supremacy

"Welcome, Dayne! I knew you would it be you to challenge me, though I did not expect such baggage."

Accessing the node caused Dayne, Kairi, and Namine to be engulfed by a blast of light, which soon faded away to reveal the layer of the Severed Realm they had arrived in. The arena looked like some kind of arctic wasteland, formed entirely of an ice-like substance. It wasn't true ice though, and this wasn't a true tundra. Whatever material they were standing on, it was not slippery like ice and it gave off no cold. It was utterly inert. High ridges, plateaus, and mountains of the glassy material formed around in a spiraled cluster, nestling a flat valley within it. The gray, dreary sky was nearly completely covered by a constant aurora, though the rainbow stream lacked any kind of luster and beauty. It matched the landscape perfectly.

Tallgeese stood within the valley, looking up at the highest peak, where Dayne, Kairi, and Namine had arrived. Once more, the robotic Immortal was equipped with a new armour; a boxy, nearly flat chassis made of crimson and black alloy steel covered his chest, with a large gold and black gem place on the center of the chassis. Most of the hardware for this armour was located on his back, with ten golden, angular wings on hinges, all folded up and pointing downward; a single, large, heavy-duty jet engine was placed on the center of his back, with ten conical shaped devices attached around the engines, in a circular pattern; each device had four gun barrels built into them and bladed, spear-like tips. What looked like sword hilts were inserted into his shoulders, and two beam cannons on hinges were attached to his thighs. The armour on Tallgeese's legs, arms, and even his faceplate, was made of shining golden plate.

"Come and face me, traitor! Don't waste my time, delaying destiny!"

Dayne chose to ignore both jibes, instead, simply unsheathing High Streak, palming the hilt. "Girls," he said, looking blankly ahead, at neither Tallgeese or the twin Keybladers. "I don't want you to get involved in this. Stay back, I'll handle him."

"What?" Kairi couldn't believe her ears. "Haven't you learned anything? Dayne, you need us!"

Dayne shrugged. "Maybe, but I have to do this on my own." He then moved to join Tallgeese in the valley, but was stopped. Kairi was clutching onto his arm, urging him to stay back.

"No!" Trepidation and fear were alive in Kairi's eyes, with just those organs pleading him to stay behind, to reconsider. "I... I've lost too many people in my life. I don't want to lose you too."

"Princess..."

"No! I won't hear of it!" Kairi insisted, her fire showing clearly. "If you really are loyal to me, then I _order_ you to stay behind. To let us help!" Dayne flinched at the grave tone of Kairi's voice, his wavering eyes meeting her fierce, yet frightened ones, about to back down and yield to her wishes.

"Kairi, you have to let him go." Both Princess and guardian stopped and stared at Namine. Looking at the young blond, you could see a similar fire within Namine that Kairi possessed. But, where Kairi's was wild and passionate, Namine's was more subdued, but also much more calm and focused.

Kairi balked at her sister's request. "What are you saying, Namine?"

"I'm saying, you have to let Dayne go and fight." Namine explained, staying calm all the while, touching Kairi lightly to try and share that calm. "I know you're worried about what might happen, but we have to trust Dayne. He's never let us down before, and I don't he's about to now." Kairi looked slightly nerved at the explanation, considering all the things Dayne had done over the past month-and-a half. The moment of hesitation was all Dayne needed, as he slipped away from Kairi and dove into the valley, calling back to Namine all the way down.

"Keep her out of the fight, Nam!"

Dayne touch-downed gracefully and without pomp. He swung High Streak a few times and glared at Tallgeese. "Alright, let's do this."

"What? No smart comment, just right down to business?" Tallgeese sneered derisively, cockily, voice full of arrogance and superiority. "Don't you even care about all the preparations I've put in to making this armour? My Supremacy armour?" Dayne just stood like a statue, glaring at Tallgeese all the while. The cyborg scoffed. "Ever since your wife died, you've been no fun..."

"DON'T talk about her!"

"Why? Are you still blaming yourself?"

"I know that it wasn't my fault! Argh... Just... shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

Dayne charged forward, full of a violent rage. Tallgeese just smirked at the reaction, not moving, though his armour did. The thigh-mounted cannons flipped up, aiming at Dayne, and firing their burning hot payload. Dayne spun to the side to avoid the laser blasts.

"Deploy Mobile Dragoon Arms System!" At Tallgeese's orders, the ten conical bits surrounding his engines came to life, detaching themselves and rocketing skyward, vanishing into the lusterless aurora. "Deploy Rocket Meteor Arms System!" Two panels of land in the valley withdrew, revealing a tunnel of sorts. Flying out of the tunnels were a pair of large laser cannons, shaped like missiles, with massive engines attached to their back ends.

_Just what the hell is he planning?_ Dayne thought, eyes craned skyward at the vanishing weaponry. Distracted by the jet-powered gear, Dayne didn't notice panels on Tallgeese's chassis opening up, firing out small bombs. They landed at Dayne's feet, who noticed them just in time to see them exploded in his face. But these bombs weren't incendiary or fragmentation bombs, or any type of offensive bombs. They simply created a thick, black smokescreen. Dayne was taken aback when the smokescreen faded away, and Tallgeese hadn't made a move. He was just standing there; he hadn't even unfolded his wings! _Okay...now I'm really worried._

Tallgeese smirked at the confused Dayne, gripping on the hilt-shaped object stowed in his shoulder. He drew it, lightning quick, revealing it was a beam blade. This one was different though, five-feet long, two-feet wide at the base – a triangular blade of brilliant green energy.

Both Immortals charged, Tallgeese firing up his engines and finally unfolding his wings, surrounding his backside in a halo of angular wings. The two clashed weapons for a few strokes, High Streak drawing a profuse amount of sparks from contact with the beam sword. After a few strokes, counters, and parries, Dayne broke away, sliding to the wall of the valley, and then running upwards. Bounding off the wall, Dayne raised his blade, ready to unleashing a twin strike of flame and thunder on his adversary.

Before he could unload the blasts, three of the conical Dragoons shot downward, overtaking Dayne and even rattling him with their slipstream. Dayne unleashed the waves of elemental energy, only for the Dragoons to settle above Tallgeese in a triangular formation. Beams of light shot out from the machines, connecting to one another, and forming a barrier of light. The waves of fire and lightning crashed into Tallgeese's light-wave shield, causing it and the Dragoons to rumble under the force, only to bounce off it completely, ineffectual in all ways.

In freefall, Dayne snarled at the thwarted attack. "What's this? A second attempt at your pathetic shield?"

"Oh, it's more than that!" The barrier fell, and the Dragoons all aimed their tips at Dayne. The machines began to pepper Dayne and the air around him with green lasers, each device showering the reformed Immortal with a barrage of beams. The first few clipped his arms and legs, as he quickly summoned his energy wings to stay aloft, trying to distance himself from the trio of Dragoon Arms.

"You won't get away from them that easily!" Tallgeese called out, watching calmly, as his devices did all the work. The three Dragoons took flight, engines kicking in, and followed Dayne. The seven remaining autonomous machines descended from the sky, and all ten of the drones unleashed their devastating group attack, surrounding Dayne, while rapidly changing positions and constantly firing. Between their unrelenting barrage and twitchy, random movements, Dayne was forced on the defensive, dodging every shot he could. Even with his heightened reflexes, it was still a daunting task, and he got hit once or twice by the Dragoons.

Tallgeese watched in utter satisfaction as Dayne continued to struggled against the ten mobile drones. "Ha! I'm surprised by your actions, traitor... that you didn't prepare for your rival, like I did!"

"What are you babbling about?" Dayne questioned, most of his attention focused on the Dragoons. He didn't even have time to look at the cyborg. "You're not my rival! This rivalry between you and I doesn't exist, you lunatic! None of this matters! I could care less about you!"

Tallgeese nodded along with Dayne's words. "I see... Well, if that is the case, I'll give you more of a taste of Supremacy!" The thrusters took to life, as Tallgeese took to the air, level with the lightning-quick Dayne. "Meteor Arms, descend!" The two, rocketed propelled cannons fell to Tallgeese's level, each weapon attaching to his arms magnetically. He fired the right Meteor, missing widely, as Dayne continued to dodge, only vaguely aware of Tallgeese taking pot shots at him. The second shot missed, but the third managed to catch Dayne square in the chest, mid-evasion.

The laser blast stunned him, sending the towering warrior flying backwards and into a wall. Tallgeese immediately went after him, jettisoning his Meteors and drawing his beam blade again. "I am so far underwhelmed by your performance!" Tallgeese called out, mid-charge. The Dragoons had stopped the attack and were now charging alongside him. "What happened to the warrior I fought on Traverse Town?"

"Prism Chain Arts, Firaga Style: Meteor Barrage!"

"What!"

From Dayne's position within the wall's crater, he unleashed a storm of sheep-sized fireballs, all of which were explosive. The attack almost – _almost_ – hit Tallgeese, but the Dragoons quickly intercepted the exploding flames, jumping ahead of their master and forming another light-wave barrier. The Meteor Barrage blasted harmlessly off the wall.

While his attack was slamming into the wall, Dayne came off the wall again, climbing high into the sky, hoping to take Tallgeese by surprise. The hope was dashed very quickly, when Tallgeese left his barrier behind, using the incredible lift from his jets to overrun Dayne, climbing higher than he was!

"Let me show you how to really do it! Prism Chain Arts, Supremacy Style: Frozen Drive!"

An icy blue aura covered Tallgeese's armour, the Immortal shooting back down to the ground immediately. He rammed right into Dayne, a trail of ice crystals following him all the way. The aura around Tallgeese extended to Dayne, numbing his skin and freezing him to the core. Eventually, Tallgeese's jet power managed to drive Dayne down to the ground with him, slamming him into the faux-ice and creating a flower of real ice around Dayne! The ice flower exploded, sending Dayne into the air, crashing to the ground in a heap a moment later. Tallgeese stood unharmed, confidently and smugly. His Dragoons twitched through the air, hanging behind him; his Meteors flew around the airspace above Tallgeese.

Slowly got up to his feet, ice caking his body. "What... that was a Chain Art?" Dayne gasped in disbelief, struggling after getting thrown about like nothing. "How did you do that?"

Tallgeese reared back and laughed. "How do you think? It's all in the name of my armour!" He motioned to the mechanical gear equipped to his body. "Supremacy! Designed to not only counter all your abilities perfectly, but to make me superior to you in every single way!" The robotic Immortal began to cackle in a maniacal manner.

"...You're a loony."

"Oh? You don't believe me?" Tallgeese drew one of his beam swords. "Then let me demonstrate. Come!" He motioned to Dayne before taking a swordfighting stance. "I'll show you the powers of Supremacy!"

Dayne obliged his foe, charging forward and striking at Tallgeese. Effortlessly, the energy sword blocked the high-frequency-vibration blade. Tallgeese made no effort to counter or attack, simply letting Dayne wail away, and parrying every single slash with easy, exerting barely any force to shield himself against the heavy blade. Growing bored of the sport, Tallgeese stepped away briefly, taking to the air just as fast, and hanging above a flustered Dayne, taunting him.

"I tinkered with all the servos in my body, increasing my swordsmanship and reflexes ten-fold!" The thigh-mounted cannons on Tallgeese's armour folded out again. "Prism Chain Arts, Supremacy Style: Spark Drive!" The cannons flared to life, firing twin crescents of electric energy. The pulses flied through the air, as Dayne did his best to avoid them. The crescents made no clear effort to hit Dayne, instead crashing into the ground, unleashing a wave of electric energy that traveled through the ground, slamming into Dayne and stunning him long enough for Tallgeese's next move.

The mechanical Immortal jetted behind Dayne, beam blade raised. "Prism Chain Arts, Supremacy Style: Burn Drive!" The green energy sabre became covered in searing flames, as Tallgeese swung the weapon in a large uppercut, unleashing a spinning gout of flame that hit Dayne, burning at his back and sending him flying into the air. He bounced off the wall once more, before settling on the ground.

"Okay..." Dayne got to his feet again, badly beaten after the last few attacks. "So you can copy me... big deal. I don't see you proving your superiority or anything."

"Really?" Tallgeese cocked his head. "Look at your body." Finding the request odd, Dayne nevertheless took a gander at his own body. His burnt, bloody, damaged body. Bloody. Several wounds were open, bleeding, all over his body! What's worse, none of them seemed to be sealing up on their own, despite Dayne's excellent healing factor.

"What the...?"

Once again, Tallgeese boomed in laughter. "Do you see it now! My ultimate gambit! The _coup de grace_ of my strategy!" Armed with laser sword, Tallgeese started to walk towards Dayne. "You're greatest asset in battle isn't you're swordsmanship or your strength or your tactical intelligence, but that annoying regeneration of yours. If I hoped to win, I would have to nullify it, and to nullify it, I would have to figure out how it worked.

"Do you even know how it works, Dayne? How your own body functions?" Dayne made no answer, so Tallgeese continued. "It's really quite fascinating. Simply put, in every cell in your body, there is a special organelle that run off of your metaphysical energy. Whenever the cell is ruptured, the organelle takes in your energy and uses it to undergo a special kind of cellular mitosis – infinite, never ending mitosis that doesn't shorten the lifespan of your cells or damage them one bit."

Dayne began to pace sideways, as Tallgeese drew closer to him. The cyborg matched his movements. "Well, this biology lesson is fascinating, but I fail to see a valid point."

"That brings me to how I disabled your regeneration factor." A sick smile overtook Tallgeese's features. "The second attack of this battle, my smokescreen... within the cloud were several hundred-million nano-robots that entered your system while you were engulfed by the screen. These nanos act as inhibitors to the regeneration organelle, attaching to them and disrupting the mitosis process. Completely!"

Dayne flinched, taking an unconscious step back as Tallgeese continued to gloat. "That's it. That's the look." Tallgeese held his beam sabre at a battle-ready position."The look of utter despair at the realization that you're completely outmatched!"

"Don't go flying off the handle so quickly!" Dayne fired back, threateningly. He took a fighting stance himself, readying his own blade to meet his opponent. "So I can't heal, big deal. I'm still more than a match for you!" He lied. Truth was, Tallgeese's relentless assault was wearing him down. Add to the that the beatdown he had suffered from Aeron and Arianne this morning, the battles with Cassius and Pete yesterday, and the fact that he hadn't been performing up to standard in a long while, and Dayne was nearing his limit very rapidly. His regeneration was canceled, his physical and spirit energy levels were so low, he only had a few Chain Arts left in him – and he didn't even think about using the Infuse or his Daemon form – and all he had left were his weapons. Despite the bleak outlook of the fight, Dayne put on a brave front. "So long as I have breathe in my body, that's more than enough to defeat someone like you!"

Tallgeese cocked his head and grinned. "Well, let us test that hypothe-" Before Tallgeese could finish his sentence, Dayne drew Low Cut from it's holster, aiming the handgun at the Immortal. Tallgeese didn't even blink at the sudden action, instead simply darting across the battlefield, sword in hand. With a single, faster-than-the-eye-could-see dash and cut, Tallgeese flew past Dayne, effortlessly severing the barrel and chamber of Low Cut from the grip.

With barely any time to react, Dayne dropped the bifurcated and ruined revolver, turning around to block Tallgeese's follow-up slash. Sparks fell down across Dayne's face, his body being pushed back by the force of Tallgeese's jets; the green hue of Tallgeese's energy weapon showered his evil grin in a sickly green light. With the advantage of superior speed and flight, Tallgeese was able to gain a huge edge in the duel between himself and Dayne, darting around his adversary with nary a care in the world, effortlessly block his attacks, countering, and then re-gaining the advantage in a seamless form.

Dayne blocked a flurry of cuts from directly in front of him, Tallgeese hovering off the surface, before seeing an opening to attack. Mid-swing, Tallgeese zipped around Dayne's left, causing Dayne to block and then switch to a sloppy guard for the next attack. The burning energy sword scraped across his knuckles and hand. Tallgeese didn't stay in place long, either, he backed away after the initial strike, strafing to the left some more, before suddenly charging Dayne, rocketing into the air, diving down just as quick, and continuing the assault on Dayne, this time hanging directly above Dayne and upside down. The awkwardness of the angle gave Dayne some trouble, as he had to arch back properly to keep Tallgeese in his proper guard. Several of Tallgeese's attacks scored glancing blows against him, though with an energy weapon, glancing blows were still incredibly painful. Dayne ignored the searing pain and the smell of his own burning flesh, and pressed onward, desperately seeking the opening he wanted.

Patiently, he continued to weather the storm of slashes. Tallgeese went from upside-down and right above Dayne, to his immediate right, standing upright in midair. He grunted every time the sparks showered onto his body, and every single strike that broke through his guard. Tallgeese hit the ground again, running around Dayne in a circle, before backing off again. _Perfect!_ Dayne thought in triumph. He knew Tallgeese's next move, him having performed it only a few minutes ago. He would certainly strafe around Dayne before charging, the question was whether he would complete charge or go airborne. _I just have to react quick enough when the split happens._

As he predicted, Tallgeese soon shot forward to Dayne again, this time strafing to the right. Dayne kept angling his whole body out to keep an eye on Tallgeese, to react optimally when the time came. Tallgeese just continued to strafe for a painful amount of time, but Dayne never stopped following his movements, standing perfectly still except for turning his body in time with Tallgeese.

The next move surprised Dayne, as it was a third option he hadn't considered. Tallgeese suddenly shot forward with a burst of speed, looping around at the same time to fly in a violently fast u-turn with the end result aimed at Dayne. Surprise or not, Dayne was still able to react, given the distance Tallgeese had to cover between them. As the Immortal neared, Dayne side-stepped to his left, like a matador avoiding an impending goring, and caught Tallgeese on an open flank. He brought High Streak down in a powerful blow and severed the jet engine attached to Tallgeese's back in two, causing the Immortal to lose all velocity and only to be carried by his momentum.

But, before inertia could pull Tallgeese away from Dayne, he decided to strike while the iron was hot. After cleaving through the engine, he brought High Streak down to the ground, while twisting his body to the right, towards Tallgeese. Holding the sword awkwardly, Dayne managed to catch Tallgeese by surprise once again, swinging in an uppercut motion and catching him in the right hand. Although he failed to cleave through another part of Tallgeese, he did strike the beam sabre gripped in the hand, damaging it enough to short the power out and then causing the hilt to be hurled out of Tallgeese's hands.

Dayne spun around after the attack, facing the skidding cyborg once more. Tallgeese slammed his feet down into the earth to stop his momentum, before quickly drawing his second beam blade and charging right back into the fray. It looked like Tallgeese was going to lock up with Dayne once again, Dayne more than ready for that outcome. But, at the last possible moment, Tallgeese shifted his body so that he was placed on Dayne's diagonal, thrusting the energy sword directly at flat of High Streak's blade, and piercing it perfectly through!

"What the...?" Dayne gasped, as he eyed what he thought was the impossible.

"Another one of your flaws, analyzed and countered." Tallgeese declared. "The advantage of your high-frequency blades is that they inflict damage to weapons and armour more easily, and resist damage themselves form various things, like my energy weapons." Dayne tried to rev the motor of his sword, but it was useless. The energy blade must of pierced one of the components in the blade itself. "This is due to the vibrations caused by the blade's motor. The thing is, that the vibrations start to weaken as you move away from the edge of the weapon." Tallgeese then began to twist his blade, causing High Streak to rent and crack along the area where the two sword's bisected. "And so..." With one final twist of the wrist, Tallgeese snapped the upper portion of High Streak in two!

Out of fear and shock, Dayne backed away, still wielding the ruined High Streak, bits of machinery and the engine's chain visible from the top portion of the high-frequency blade. Tallgeese continued to strike at Dayne, swinging his sabre wildly. Out of instinct, Dayne brought his sword up to block, but the energy sword simply tore through the remainder of the sword like it was nothing.

With another vicious grin, Tallgeese mocked Dayne once more. "And now, you are left with nothing!" Dayne looked ready to go at Tallgeese with his bare hands, still gripping High Streak – reduced to nothing more than the hilt, motor and a little bit of the blade – in his left hand, but Tallgeese simply jumped into the sky, with ease in spit of the lack of his jet. He did so to allow a pair of his Dragoon drones to charged straight into Dayne's chest, piercing him with their bladed tips, the thrusters of the Dragoons pushing Dayne right into one of the walls of the valley. To add insult to injury, the Dragoons then fired their barrels, point-blank into Dayne's chest and lungs, causing his body to lurch up violently against the wall, a wordless scream punctuating the agony his body displayed.

Tallgeese only laughed at the suffering his former ally was going through. "What was that you said about 'so long as I have breathe in my body'?" He cackled maliciously. The two Dragoon units managed to pull themselves from Dayne's body, leaving behind two charred craters in his chest, as Dayne slumped to his knees, bloody gushing from his mouth.

* * *

While the other battles with the Immortals were underway, the "Lock Team" of Ed, Al, Donald, Goofy, and Kalyn were making their trek back up Infinite Paradiso, nearly reaching the entrance hall by this point. Kalyn, though, seemed to be making double-time in her efforts to climb the castle, being much farther ahead of the rest of her party, despite their efforts to keep up with the pace she set.

Ed, being one of the slowest due to his height, was reaching his limit. "Hey! Kalyn, slow down!"

A terse, "Piss off" was all that Ed got in reply.

"Oh, she's a lovely girl." Donald said sarcastically. He never thought he would miss the day when all Keybladers were like Sora, but here that day was. Ed simply glared back up at the Master of Water, having noticed her actions in the past little while. Her temper and sharpness and just general antisocial behaviour. Something was up with her and, like it or not, he had to do something about it. For the sake of the team (he rolled his eyes at the thought of it).

With a surprising burst of speed, Ed caught up with Kalyn in a few seconds, grabbing her shoulder and forcing her up against the wall.

"What's the big idea?" Kalyn said, indignant about the treatment. The remainder of the group were staring at Ed and Kalyn, equal confused as to what Ed was doing.

"We need to talk, missy." Ed replied.

"Brother?" Al asked his brother in an inquiring tone.

Ed turned back to his brother, and easy smile on his face. "It's alright Al, just something I have to take care of. Go on ahead, we'll catch up." Al nodded, hesitant, but he respected his brother's request none the less, ushering Goofy and Donald along with him.

When they left, Edward turned back to Kalyn. "Alright, what's your damage? I can deal with cynics, and deadpan snarkers, but when you act like a general bitch, it just pisses me off."

"What are you talking about, Elric?" She replied, unflinching.

"Don't play dumb with me, I've noticed what's been going on with you. You're angry and ill-tempered all the time, you seem to have this disturbing violent streak in combat, so fess up. What's wrong?

Kalyn did not back down in the face of Ed's accusations. "I've had a hard life, you know that. I think I have every excuse to-"

Ed didn't want to hear her crap. "Yeah, yeah, you've had a crappy life. Same with me, same with Riku, same with nearly everyone else in our group. That doesn't mean we're flying off the handle at everything, biting off everyone's head just because we can. That's a poor excuse and you know it!"

For the first time since they had met, Kalyn's strong, defensive facade began to crumble, her eyes showing relent and welling up with emotion in the face of Ed's speech. Even Ed was surprised at this turn. After a moment of stunned silence, Kalyn spoke up in a small voice, "How do you deal with it, Ed? How are you not getting angry at everything and everyone you come across?"

"Because, I have Alphonse." Ed admitted. "I promised him that I would get his body back, no matter what. I won't lose sight of that goal, ever."

"So...you have something to fight for?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Do you think, that if I had found something like that – that if I can find something like that – I can get rid of all this anger?"

"Maybe." Ed said in a non-committed manner, not sure of how to continue on. He was alchemist, not a therapist, damn it. "I can't tell you these sort of things, only you can. You have to figure out what to fight for, or whatever, and you have to figure out if that's what you need."

Kalyn swallowed hard, nodding along with him. "Okay." She exhaled.

Ed nodded back at her. "Are you alright, then?" She nodded again. "Then let's go. We still have a long day ahead of us."

Silently, Kalyn agreed and the two hurried off to reach their teammates. Though, she still uttered a private thanks to the Fullmetal Alchemist, hoping this would lead her down a better road than the one she was on.

* * *

"Let me go, Namine!"

"Kairi, you just need to calm down!"

"Calm down! Calm down! He's dying down there!

"I know, it's just..." Namine was struggling to find words that would keep Kairi from leaving their perch. "You just need to believe in him, Kai. He's Dayne. He's never let you down before, and he never will." Even though Kairi yielded in her protest, Namine could still tell that she was still having reservations about the entire situation. And with good reason, considering the corner Tallgeese had backed Dayne into. "Dayne! Dayne, listen to me!" Namine cried out to the downed-Guardian. "If you let Kairi down, if you make her cry, then I will never forgive you!"

Despite the savage beating he had taken, Dayne did the seemingly impossible at the behest of Namine's threat: he stood. On shaking legs, body covered in his own blood, both his weapons destroyed, and all of his energy drained, but he stood regardless. Though, he did look like a walking corpse with the two massive craters in his chest, his eyes downcast, and his posture askew and without form.

"Impossible..." An amazed Tallgeese pronounced. He then decided to turn his surprise into an insult. "I'm shocked you didn't show this resilience when Rain was being beaten to death, when she was throwing away her life."

"Shut...up..."

"Still feeling guilty are we?"

"I told you..."

"You told me your own personal delusion." Tallgeese snapped, glaring at his battered opponent. "You can say you aren't guilty as many times as you wish, but your actions belies your words. Anytime anyone so much as mentions Rain, you snap, you rage, and you show everyone what you truly feel! And quite frankly, after studying you for so long, it makes me sick. Looking at your actions, your personality, everything about you recently just infuriates me. This guilt that carries with you, and the denial that you drag along with it has caused quite a notable downturn in your performance in combat in the past few weeks. I came here today expecting a glorious battle, and instead have spent the last ten minutes facing an ineffectual, non-committed, weak coward! Even more sickening is how you carry yourself, thinking that just because you convene with humans makes you superior to the rest of us Immortals. You. Are. An Immortal. Nothing can change that, and you are guilty of all the things we are simply be association! In fact, your arrogance makes you even more of a monster and sinner than the rest of us.

"Your actions become even more and more heinous, easily seen in how you approached this fight! You told me this rivalry was nothing more than a figment of my imagination, that you didn't care about this fight. That apathetic attitude has no place on the battlefield, or in life! Ever since Rain died you've shown nothing but disinterest and sloth to the rest of the world. Did you honestly believe that you could just waltz into Infinity Paradiso, tear through the rest of the Immortals like they were nothing, and save your whole for Cassius? Don't make me laugh! You've seen where this attitude has brought you, to the mercy of my blade. What do you want out of life? Vengeance? Power? Do you seek death to absolve yourself of your sins? Because I can grant you death this very instant if you so wish! What is it that you want? Do you have no desire, no passion? Has apathy overtaken your very soul! You called me and my compatriots monsters, but even us 'monsters' have desires! What is is that you want!"

Dayne didn't answer, there was no sign that he was physically capable of answering. He just stood there, bleeding body wobbling feebly, ruined sword gripped in hand. "...You sicken me, Deuce...Claudio...Dayne." Tallgeese sneered, stowing away his sword. With a flourish of his arms, his entire arsenal – the ten Dragoon drones and the two Meteor cannons – gathered behind him. "A pathetic creature like you is not worth this sort of effort."

The ten Dragoons floated around the mechanical fiend's body, four to his left, another four to his right, and two above his head. "You only deserve death." The two Meteor cannons attached to his arms. "And an eternity of sufferings for you sins." The two cannons mounted on his waist flipped up into firing position, and the angular wings folded over to the front of his body, revealing gun barrels at the tips. "I wanted to feel glory for conquering you today, but you even robbed me of that feeling. I have nothing left to say to you..."

At once, the four barrels on each Dragoon, the Meteor cannons, the waist-mounted cannons, the barrels at the tip of the wings, and even the gem on Tallgeese's chest began to charge with brilliant green energy, building and building until it looked like Tallgeese's entire body was carved out of emerald, bathed by the powerful life.

"Just die! Prism Chain Art, Supremacy Style: Wave Motion Barrage!"

All at once, the fifty-five charged lasers fired in a single stream of energy, tearing across the landscape towards the unmoving Dayne. The roar of the blast overtook all other sounds, the light of the lasers enshrouded all other sounds. Death rushed towards Dayne, surrounding his entire world.

_Kairi, Namine, Rain...I'm sorry._ He thought, shutting his eyes, bracing for the inevitable. _I'm so, so sorry._

Dayne's whole world was surrounded by a flash of blue light.

**To Be Continued**

_CLIFF-HANGER~!_

_So, yeah. Is Dayne done for? Or will I pull some Deus-ex-Machina stuff out? Or will it be something completely different._

_And just because I'm sort of bored, some short reviews of the games I've been playing!_

_Final Fantasy XIII is...okay. I don't hate it like so many people on the web do, but it's just okay. And I honestly expect more from Square and that series than "okay"._

_God of War III has the most epic opening level in any video game I've ever played._

_The Elite Four in Pokemon Diamond are a bunch of cheap bastards. Especially Lucian and his Bronzong! I seriously want to kill all Bronzongs in the world right now. That game gets way too hard, way too fast._

_Final Fantasy IV, III, Tactics, and Chrono Trigger are all still awesome!_

_Pokemon Heart Gold is just like the original Gold version: Freaking awesome! I love Gold to death, but all the improvement makes HG better than original!_

_Kingdom Hearts Re: Coded is...strange. I still haven't finished the game, but I can safely say its better than Days at the very least. Plus I got some cool decals as a pre-order bonus._

_Golden Sun: Dark Dawn is just like the original two games in the series: also freaking awesome! I just wish they would stop sequel bating. They seem to be taking a page out of Nomura's book..._

_...And I've already decided to pick Oshawott as my starter for Black version. Seriously, I have him set as my profile pic. Look at how adorable it is!_

_And since I constantly forgot to put up Sora's Keyblade stats..._

Keyblader Profile #6

Sora Alleris

**Keyblade:** Destiny Heart

**Master Element:** Destiny

**Class:** Red Mage

**Chapter Preview**

_Next Chapter: Betrayal. Truth. Revival. Passion. **Kingdom Hearts Genesis of Destiny, Chapter 44: What She Died For**_

_**

* * *

**Please Review_

_SirAngelo_


	44. What She Died For

_Angela: Well, look at this! It didn't take you two months to upload a chapter!_

_Angelo: Shut up..._

_Angela: And I wonder if you left this on a cliffhanger like last time? Man, you must hate your readers!_

_Angelo: I said, shut up..._

_Kairi: Hey, Angelo. Question._

_Angelo: Anything to not talk to that annoyance._

_Kairi: Right. Well, I know Angela is like...female you, but were did she come from exactly? Why is she here?_

_Angelo (blushing): It's uh...it's "Author Appeal"_

_Riku: Appeal of what?_

_Angelo: ..._

_Kairi: Talk or I'm gonna explain the short history of your love life..._

_Angelo: ...I like Rule 63..._

_Kairi (blinks): I have a bad feeling this is gonna show up sometime soon._

_Riku: If you ever take away my balls, I'm gonna kick yours._

_Angelo: Regardless of that, and putting this episode behind me, it's time we move on full-speed ahead! We're nearing the end of GOD very shortly, especially since Chapter 49 and 50 will be very short in comparison, and I plan to upload 48, 49, and 50 in one large clump! Enjoy the show!  
_

Chapter 44: What She Died For

Restless. It was the only way to properly describe the mood for the three people still aboard _The Ark_. All they could do was wait, as a group of people several years their junior struggled to save the universe. Again. Aqua was especially restless compared to her two companions, incessantly tapping her foot on the floor in a frantic pace.

After the fifth time Terra uttered her name to get her to stop, she shot back. "Well, what am I suppose to do? I just wish we could help them."

"You're too kind for your own good, sis." Terra replied. "Besides, you know we can't help them-"

"I know! I know! We took that stupid Oath..." She rued, cutting him off. Terra continued on, patient and sure as stone.

"Even if we didn't take the Oath, we still couldn't interfere. That's why Mickey isn't with them." He motioned to the royal next to him. "This battle – this entire journey – is all about them growing and getting stronger without our interference." After a few seconds of pause, he added ominously, "And they're going to need it. You know that."

Restless silence returned, only punctuated by the sharp clicking of Aqua's metal shoes tapping on the floor of the Gummi ship's bridge, before Mickey spoke up. "So that's why you two haven't changed in all these years." He said. "I was wonderin' about that oddity."

"The Oath was the only way." Terra explained. "We didn't know how long new Keyblade Warriors would be crowned and it gave us plenty of time to train and get stronger."

"But I think we should rescind it." Aqua piped in again, ceasing her foot-tapping. Terra gave her a look and she quickly explained. "You know the cardinal rule of the Oath of Galvante: 'Those who take the Oath may and shall not directly intervene in the activity and agenda of the Keyblades and their Bearers'. The extended life and youth has helped us, yes, but it is running out of uses if we can't actively fight and the foresight we've been given hasn't been as useful as we would like. No event turns out the way we're shown." It was her turn to give him a look, hard and confident, full of conviction. "You know what's coming for them, Terra. They're going to need all the help they can get, and I for one choose to renounce the Oath as soon as I can, in order to help them. They're going to need it."

Terra simply sighed and shook his head. "You're too kind for your own good..."

"After talking to him earlier today, there has been something rollin' around in my head, and I figure you two might be able to answer." Mickey asked his companions. "Does Dias know what's happening?"

"Beats me." Terra shrugged. "I mean, I would imagine he always suspected he would come back one of these days, but if he knows that he'll be here soon..."

"He does." Aqua replied. "He does. After dinner, last night, he came up to me and gave me something." Aqua reached into the inner-folds of her left bell-sleeve and withdrew and item contained in the garment. It was a small glass phial filled with some sort of alien material. It seemed to be caught in between a gas and a solid, taking the form of a strand of chain – silver and black and white – swirling around on an axis within it's prison.

"His memories?" Terra inquired. Aqua nodded. "I think we all know what he pulled out..."

Aqua continued on. "He said I were to give these to Master Yen Sid and that they would be for Sora's eyes only."

"And when would Sora's eyes see these?"

"He said that we would all know when the time was right," replied Aqua, before returning the phial to her sleeve.

With a roll of his eyes, Terra chuckled to himself. "Y'know? Dayne was right. That vagueness stuff _is_ annoying."

"All this talk of Anarados has me wondering, how long do we all have?" Mickey asked. If all his snooping around with Terra hadn't clued him in, the fact that a new Nobody had attacked Kairi was a big hint. Anarados was finally making his move after all this time.

"He seems to be prepared to strike whenever we move out. Though I imagine an impatient fellow like him has an upper limit. We should know." Terra looked at both Aqua and Mickey before moving on. "I think we should give everyone a month off. Let them recover from this, let the kids enjoy their summer vacation.

"They're gonna need it."

* * *

As the Keyblader's marched through Infinity Paradiso, they had a most definite destination. Standing faraway at the back of the fortress, was a thin ivory tower that stretched high into the sky, standing twice as high as any other structure rising from the castle. The only room within the tower, save for a massive winding stairwell, was Cassius had dubbed the Altar of Zirconiade, a massive circular room with an equally large dome-shaped roof rising over head. The only light came from a pit standing atop a raised altar – a sickly blue-green light – which draped nearly the entire room. The only two occupants within the Altar now were the slacker Creed, who stood near the entrance, boredom drawn on his long face, and the final body of Cassius, the Earth, who stood before the pit, fully cloaked, staring down at whatever was within the pit.

"So, ya ever gonna send me out to deal with them? Or am I just wastin' my time here, boss?" Creed asked impatiently. Cassius didn't move at the request. Creed narrowed his eyes. Truth be told, he wasn't really raring for a fight with the Keyblade Wielders, and he was very disappointed that that Terra guy wasn't among them. Still, a part of him wanted to test out Terra's statement; to see if they really were as strong as he claimed.

Eventually, Cassius the Earth answered, his voice cold and almost devoid of emotion. "I would prefer you stay by my side."

"Oh?" Creed cocked his head to the side. "Then why did'ya space out the rest of our forces? You put Starxys, Tallgeese, and Kaiser at the locks, at Kira is out in front of the tower, but why? Considering those kid's track record, you know that we can't beat them with out teaming up. Sure, they may take down one – if that – but it's totally pointless otherwise. A complete waste."

"I know. That's the whole plan."

"What!"

The casual manner which Cassius answered cut through Creed's steely, lazy attitude like a knife, causing him to stand at full height, eyes wide open in disbelief. Slowly, the leader of the Immortals turned around, revealing that he was holding a sheathed katana in each hand.

"Twelve kings cannot rule a country, and twelve Immortals cannot rule the universe. And neither can six." Cassius began to descend the staircase, his hood pulled tightly over his face, covering it completely. "Although I did not plan to eliminate you all before the summoning was ready, the Keyblade Wielder's intervention has forced me to change plans. We do not have enough power to form a living vessel and call forth The One That Shall Bathe The World In Flames. As such, all of you unwitting ponds will be forced to become the throne of the king."

Cassius had finished his trek downwards, causing Creed to launch forward, faster than a man of his slothful nature should be allowed to move. He tried scoring with a big uppercut, but Cassius simply vanished in a blur of movement, Creed's fist cutting through empty air. The Immortal's traitorous leader reappeared several feet to Creed's left.

Unnerved by Creed's sudden attack, the Earth continued on. "The Keyblade Wielders will defeat each and everyone of our... compatriots. If any of them fall too, I will consider that a perk. Regardless, the hearts of the fallen will come here, as an offering to Zirconiade, an offering to the End. And any warriors who survive will arrive here, lambs to the slaughter, to finish my eighty-year-plan."

Creed moved his body to face Cassius, who made no sign that he noticed Creed's own hostility. "And why haven't you sent me out to be a sacrifice, eh?"

"I have faith that only I – the King of the New World – will be able to defeat you fully." With another blur of motion, Cassius rushed to Creed, stopping in front of him and quickly drawing his swords. Once, twice, thrice, he drew the blades over Creed's body, slicing up his clothing, and breaking his Steel Skin, drawing blood! "...Just like that."

"Y-you cut...me?" Creed staggered back in shock as his white robes were slowly died a pale pink.

"I am the leader, Creed, I know the power of each and every one of my followers." Cassius then jumped into another attack, unleashing a flurry of sword slashes. Creed's own superhuman reflexes allowed him to avoid some of them, but he was still cut up by a few of them, blood now flying from wounds on his arms, legs, and chest. Pain surged through his body. "And their weaknesses. Your 'Steel Skin' is nothing more than a thick blanket of spiritual energy. It simply takes an equal amount of spiritual energy to pierce them." Cassius's blades shone a dull orange as Creed's blood dripped from them. "Another weakness is that you're too reliant on your Steel Skin, so you have practically zero true defence."

Cassius continued to unleash slash after slash on his former ally, who could only try and weather the assault. "Grr...well, I know one thing." He growled, still being barraged with katana chops. Ducking an overhead swing that was aimed at his shoulders, Creed hammered Cassius in the stomach with a lightning-quick jab. Cassius doubled over in pain, his assault stopped in one blow. Creed followed-up with a right hook that nailed the Immortal leader in the temple, and then a roundhouse kick, which sent Cassius skidding backwards several feet, giving Creed some much needed breathing room.

"And that thing is...who needs defence when ya got one hell of an offence like that!"

The moment the word "that" left the slothful Immortal's mouth, a katana flew through the air like a spear, impaling half of it's blade in Creed's chest! Cassius charged forward, grabbing the katana's hilt and drawing it out of his ally-turned-foe's chest, and preparing to strike again. Creed would have none of that. He instantly kneed Cassius in the gut, sending him airbourne with the violent force of a cannon.

When Cassius fell back down to the Altar's floor, Creed glared at his boss, bleeding from over two-dozen wounds and, surprisingly, he found himself chuckling at the situation. Not just chuckling, breaking out into a mad laughter. "You know...it's really..." He said in-between spurts of laughter. "Hehehe...it's really funny. _Real_ funny! All this time, I've been looking for a strong enough opponent," he pointed a bleeding arm at the katana-wielding Immortal, "and I was starin' them in the face the whole time!"

* * *

_When I awoke for the first time, the first thing I saw was a butterfly..._

He was falling. He sight was gone, the world around him muted, but he could still feel being dragged downward into, what he assumed was, hell. He felt a great weight on his chest, pushing him down further.

_I heard that – in some cultures, somewhere far away – the butterfly was a symbol. Of the soul transitioning between life and death._

He was moving not of his own volition. Something was calling him deeper and deeper down this empty space. Eventually, his body hit something solid. The bottom of hell. He couldn't move. He was still bereft of sight. Even if he could move, the weight was so great, it would have kept him pinned.

_I latched onto the butterfly. Not as a symbol of life or death. The butterfly was my second chance. A second, better life for me._

All of a sudden, the weight was lifted from his chest. Movement returned to his body, as he sat up, still unable to see. That was solved not even a second later, as a burst of light shot up from wherever he was lying, forcing his sight to function again.

_It seems I have squandered that life._

Dayne Rivera opened his eyes, to see the black void he inhabited.

The light that had pried his eyes open was revealed to be coming from the ground, originally as black as the space around him. The light began to peel and chip away from the ground, the chips flying into the air and turning into white bird, which fluttered away soon after. This deterioration started from Dayne's feet, continuing to stretch outward in a circular pattern, revealing a circular shaped platform, which Dayne now stood on. From Dayne's position, he could make out the top of the pillar, which looked like a giant stained-glass mural. The dominating colour of the mural was a shining cobalt blue, and the centre depicted a lone image. It was Dayne, dressed in his usual steel blue longcoat, the mural Dayne facing away from the real Dayne, a sword draped over his shoulders, and looking out towards the castle of the Radiant Garden. Below the mural, spread out in an arc, were several small circles. With each one, was the picture of an acquaintance of his. Kairi and Namine, Roxas and Sora and Riku, Clyde and Allister, people who he knew as children back in the Garden a decade ago, like Leon, Yuffie, Tifa, and Aerith. There were several blank portraits at the end, and Rain herself was represented at the leftmost tip of the arc, though her picture was surrounded in an inverted heart, the tip facing upward. The platform was finished with an outer ring, filled with Dayne's signature swallowed-tail butterfly symbol.

Still not knowing where he was or what had happened to him, Dayne looked around, left and right. There was nothing but blackness beyond the boarders of the pillar he stood on. The place seemed to be a little less darker than when he woke up, as if an unseen light source was slowly brightening...wherever he was.

He waited and waited for something to happen, but only stillness and silence ruled in the alien realm. Fed up, he muttered, "What the hell is this place?" Not expecting an answer.

"This is your heart."

Even though he was shocked that his mumblings warranted an answer, he was more concerned by the voice of the speaker. He knew that voice. Knew it all too well, and was all to excited to see that person again.

He turned around, and saw a full-grown woman, small for her age, with short-cut auburn hair, bright green eyes, and shy, demure smile on her face.

"Rain..." Instantly, Dayne broke down. Tears streaming down his eyes, he rushed forward and hugged her, embrace her, pressing her tight against his chest. A broad smile cross his face as he kept on crying, Rain burying her own face into his chest. Dayne failed to notice the faint golden aura glowing around her body. Not content with just the feeling of their bodies pressed against one another, Dayne moved his arms down around her thighs, propping up the much smaller woman so that they were making eye contact. With the two of them possessing watery eyes and shy, almost embarrassed smiles, they paused for a second before kissing. He had missed this feeling. This weird, wet, warm, wonderful feeling of her lips on his, the warmth of her body spreading throughout his from this simple, small amount of physical contact. Dayne was never much of a kisser, he never found much pleasure in kissing, but now, after seeing Rain die, after realizing how important she truly was to him, this kiss felt like the most perfect, amazing thing in the world.

After what seemed like a short lifetime in the recesses of Dayne's being, the two broke their kiss, staring at each other, breathless and in wonder.

"I..." He gasped, not knowing what to say. Rain just kept smiling at him. Dayne wiped away the few stray tears that remained and continued. "I guess this means... I'm dead?"

Rain smile grew bigger, despite the grimness of the question. "No Dayne, you're not dead." His eyes started open, sparkling with optimism.

"Th-then... Are you alive!" She instantly shook her head, causing the optimism to shrink back. "Oh...Well, then, what is all this?"

"Well...it's sort of complicated." Rain began. "I've been granted a rare chance to speak to you because...you're important, to say the least. But there are a few things I want to tell you, before all that." Rain faced Dayne, cupping one of his cheeks, looking at him in a way that made her seem like the taller person.

The next four words she uttered were words he had longed to hear.

"It's not your fault."

Once again, Dayne turned into a teary wreck. But this time, his smile was absent, replaced by a look of humility and solemnity; the weight of the world had been lifted from his back. He had indeed felt nothing but guilt since that day. If he had been strong enough, he could have beaten Cassius; Sora and Kairi wouldn't have gotten hurt, and Rain wouldn't have died. He held that with him ever since, but he would refuse to admit it. He wanted to do something to make up for it, though he didn't know what exactly. Maybe he wanted to die too, to be with Rain, that's why he kept madly diving into combat, despite knowing it was very likely he could die.

Rain continued to smile at Dayne, with his weird mix of sadness, solemness, and gratitude on his face. Knowing he wouldn't say anything, she continued to explain. "You see...when we used the Infuse on Traverse Town, I...miscalculated. You had six months of life yet. I..." She bit her lip, clamming up in fear and emotion. She had been deathly afraid to admit this, but she had to. Dayne deserved to know the truth. "I would have been dead in two weeks." The emotional pair sobered up at the admission, Rain looking especially ashamed.

"So...that's why you did it?" Dayne tried to comprehend the situation, tried to get just how Rain dealt with her emotions at the time. "You sacrificed-"

"It wasn't a sacrifice." The shame was written on every line on her face, mixed in with embarrassment. "I'm not anywhere that heroic. I did it because...I was afraid of what would happen. I didn't want to experience whatever happens to us when we die, and I didn't want to cause you any unnecessary pain... I though you would understand that part. Seems like I failed." She looked back up at Dayne with an amused smile. He shared the look. "But, the point is, this was my decision. I would have died anyways, so I chose the terms of my death."

"A heroic sacrifice." Dayne whispered, and she blushed in reaction.

"N-no! It wasn't!" Insisted Rain.

"You gave up your life to save the three of us, and because you wanted to give us hope and save us from the pain of you dieing in a painful manner." His amused, warming smile grew into an infectious grin, trying to stifle a chuckle. "That sounds like a heroic sacrifice to me, stupid." Rain laughed softly at the revelation.

"I guess you're right then... I never did consider myself one of those romanticized heroines."

"So," Dayne cocked his head to the side. "You didn't come here just to tell me this, right?"

"Right." She nodded, still smiling. They both were smiling actually, and it wasn't just because they were reunited briefly; Dayne had been saved from his own grief and anger, and Rain had been able to give him one last second chance.

"You see, Dayne, you may think that you're going to die soon..." She shook her head rapidly. "You're not. You may think so, but you won't be." Dayne looked at her skeptically, but withheld his comments. "Like I said, you're important, and you will live a long full life. And I know that look on your face, you don't believe me. At all." Dayne blushed, grinning sheepishly. "But that's okay... What I want from you though, is a promise." Taking one of Dayne's much larger hands with in both of hers, Rain's eyes met with Dayne's once more, both of them now full of strength and conviction. "Whether you live a full life or die soon, I want you to promise me this: if you do live this full life I say you will, then I don't want me holding you down. If you find a girl that you love just like me, move on, be with her, spend the rest of your life with her." Dayne looked a little unnerved by the request, but Rain tried to soften the blow with a warm, beaming smile. "I don't want you to forget about me, but I want you to enjoy whatever kind of life you have."

"Rain...This is..." Despite all of her reassurance, Dayne was sent for a whirl. This request she had was...monumental. She was asking to forget about thirty-years of marriage for something that may not actually happen. _I suppose I could just hedge my bets...I don't think I'll be more than a year anyways._ He thought. "...I could never refuse a promise from you, regardless of what it is, okay?"

"Okay!" She repeated, still smiling. "So, tell me Dayne, what are you gonna do when you go back? What are you gonna show Tallgeese? He said you have no passion, but do you have some now?"

"Hell yeah, I do!" He declared in a hot-blooded manner. "No matter what I've done, no matter what that crackpot accuses me of, I have nothing to be ashamed of! I have no responsibility for your death! It's not my fault!" He boomed with laughter, jumping up and down, and pumping his fists. "And I have the passion, strength, resolve, and motivation to show it! I'm the last remaining member of King Agrias Ralleone's Kingsguard. A long time ago, that man gave me purpose, and now he does again! I swear, so long as I have breath in my body, I will defend his daughter, guard and guide her against the darkness and to the light! I will protect everything she holds dear, and never let her down! Do you hear me world, that is my passion! My oath! Kairi and Namine, and Roxas, and even Sora! I am a Radiant Guardian and Royal Bodyguard of the Radiant Guardian and I will always fight for my Princess and what she holds dear!

"In short, I am myself, and nothing more! And that's damn good enough for me!"

He felt Rain's arms wrap around her own, sidling up to her and pressing up against to him again, resting her head on his arms. "I...you know I can't stay forever. We both have to go back to our own worlds, soon."

"Yeah..." Dayne swallowed something hard in his throat before pulling her closer, putting a hand on his waist. "I was never that good at saying good-bye but...I love you Rain. I always will, no matter where the two of us end up."

Rain nuzzled up against his sleeve, putting her own hand around his waist. "If I don't see you again for another thirty-years, or seventy, or even a hundred, it doesn't matter... I love you, Dayne...Claudio...everything that you are."

* * *

A massive explosion rocked the strange, bizarre battlefield; green energy being broken apart by a burst of steely-blue light, sending out a shockwave that tore apart the strange, glassy area. Tallgeese was sent skidding back slightly, and even Kairi and Namine felt the burst from their high-up perch. When the light finally subsided, Kairi and Namine saw a joyous sight, which Tallgeese saw as utterly baffling and shocking.

Dayne was alive!

But it was more than him surviving the Wave Motion Barrage attack, no, it was much more than that. All the wounds on his body, all the damage to his clothes, every single bit of scarring, burning, and wounding, mentally or physically, that he had suffered in this fight had been healed. In fact, whatever had happened to him, whatever had created that burst of light, had given him a brand new cloak, similar to what happened with Roxas, Namine, and Riku's awakening. His longcoat was no sleeveless, and several shades lighter than his usual coats, now a regular shade of cobalt blue. Their was no tails or split hanging from the end, as it reached down to his knees, flapping in the aftermath of the shockwave. His black butterfly, as always, was on the back of the jacket, but it was no joined by six slashes of crimson across the fabric at the level of his ribs, three on each side. The immaculately dressed, totally uninjured Dayne stared across the battle at Tallgeese, arms crossed over his chest, his eyes as calm and fierce as the eye of a storm.

"H-how!" Tallgeese screamed. "How the hell did you survive? And your injuries! What happened? How? HOW!"

"Rain is dead." Dayne proclaimed loudly, proudly, and unflinching. Full of energy and vigour. "She's dead and she's never coming back! But that doesn't mean she's gone. She's right there on my back, and right here in my heart," he thumped on the left side of his chest with his fist, "She lives on as a part of me!"

"What are you babbling about this time?" Tallgeese sneered, still incensed at Dayne's sudden revival.

Dayne's response seemed to suggest he either didn't hear, or didn't care about, Tallgeese's response. Instead, he simply pointed a finger at the cyborg and carried on. "An unrivaled passion burns within me now, stoked by the feelings my friends carry for me!" He pointed back to Kairi and Namine. "As long as I have them to fight for, to cheer me on, to be there for me at every turn, it doesn't matter what happens to me or what I lose, my passion will carry me through! I will survive! I will fight for them, regardless and always! Do you know who the hell I am! Do you hear me Tallgeese! You can't win! With burning passion and sparking resolve, nothing will surpass me, and not even the heavens will defy my oath!"

"Enough of this childish ranting!" Tallgeese yelled. His weapons reformed into the same position as when he fired the Wave Motion Barrage. "It doesn't matter what you say, or how you were healed. The facts remain, you have no weapons and I have already proven able to counter everything you pull out! Your defeat is a foregone conclusion!" The barrels of Tallgeese's fifty-five cannons began to charge with glowing green particles.

Dayne just grinned. "My apathy, my arrogance, and my guilt made me weak, right?" He clutched his hand into a fist, lightning sparking around it. "Well, let's see what happens when my heart is full of resolve and passion!"

The lightning suddenly expanded violently, wrapping Dayne in another aura of blinding blue light. Tallgeese flinched again, still charged his weapons, ready to fire when the light faded. But, he had to give pause when it did. He flinched once more when he saw what Dayne was gripping in his right hand.

A Keyblade.

"I...don't believe it." Kairi gasped. She turned to Namine and said, "We didn't give him a Medallion so...how?"

"Well, Aqua and Terra did explain the various ways one became a Keyblade Warrior..." The blonde girl recalled. "I doubt he got one through inheritance. Maybe it was that he had great potential? Or did he forge it out of will?"

"I...don't think that's important." Kairi smiled, dismissing her earlier question. "He has one now, right? And it looks like she's back in more ways than one."

Dayne's Keyblade stood out from most others. Whereas nearly every other Keyblade seen by Sora and his group so far was designed like a skeleton key, Dayne's was modeled after a tumbler-lock key, like the Fenrir Tifa gave Sora. The weapon was at equal length with his previous sword, possibly even longer, with a shimmering blade made of a bright blue metal-like material, with an actual sharp edge unless most Keyblades. The blade itself was edged on both sides, with a rounded tip instead of a point, and with faint images of clouds and lightning bolts carved onto the flat of the blade. At the juncture of the blade, guard, and hilt, was a semi-circular piece of black metal, with pieces stretching out from the edge and enclosing the bottom of the blade's edges, like the jaws of a beast breathing out the sword. A large sapphire orb, banded in gold and crimson metal, was set in the centre of the piece, and a curved piece, dark blue and gold, descended from the juncture point, forming a guard on the side of Dayne's knuckles. The hilt was a similar colour to the remainder of the lower half of the sword, a bluish black with what appeared to be bandages wrapped around it. The keychain dangled from the pommel, a black and red butterfly (what else?) as the token.

Tallgeese was speechless at the revelation, while Dayne was still grinning widely. "Ready for round two?" He asked, full of energy and cockiness. Tallgeese didn't respond, and Dayne just grinned all the more. "In my hand, I hold Rain's will, and her will is for me to put an end to you and every other Immortal!" As he uttered the words, the name and title of his Keyblade flitted through his mind. _Passion of the storm. Butterfly Rain._

Tallgeese finally forced himself to speak. "Regardless of how a coward like you got that, it makes no difference. My Supremacy will still reign!" The cannons around Tallgeese's body were brimming with energy, clearly almost ready to fire and try and incinerate Dayne again.

"You reigned supreme against the old Dayne," the newly minted Keyblader said coolly, "But I've been reborn, I'm a brand new man, and you have nothing on me!" With Butterfly Rain pulsing with blue light, Dayne stabbed the Keyblade into the ground, firing out a pulse of energy. "Limit Wave!"

The energy took the form of a massive wave of blue energy, streaking across the landscape towards Tallgeese. Shock overtook his features, as he quickly called off his attack. "Dragoons! Defend!" The ten conical drones positioned themselves in between Tallgeese and the electric wave, forming the energy barrier and blocking the attack. For a moment, it looked like Dayne's strike would break the wall, the shiny energy wavering in and out, but the Limit Wave eventually died out. Tallgeese sneered in triumph, as he dismissed the wall and had one of his Dragoons shoot out a beam. The shot was too fast for Dayne to react to, piercing him through the centre of his gut, drawing more blood from the reformed Immortal.

Dayne grunted in pain, while Tallgeese mugged some more in his atypical arrogance. The look of superiority was soon wiped off his face, as Dayne stood straight up, proudly, baring his fresh wound to his enemy. Butterfly Rain began to glow again, as the bloody pit in his stomach slowly began to knit itself, leaving Dayne's skin unblemished, totally repaired, and no sign of the wound's existence save for a few drops of blood and some torn clothing.

"What!" Tallgeese gasped. In his shock and fury, Tallgeese had his Dragoons unleash another dozen or so beam shots at Dayne, which he just stood and took, letting them riddle his body with holes. When the barrage subsided, Dayne continued to stand still, letting his wounds close up on their own. Same as always. "Impossible!" Tallgeese protested. "My nanos should prevent any kind of regeneration from occuring! How!"

"Haven't you figure it out yet?" Dayne shouldered his new Keyblade, tapping it up against his shoulder. "I keep telling you, your facing the new-Dayne. Not the old-Dayne. Furthermore, you've been opposing Keyblade Wielders this entire time and you're still shouting things like 'impossible' and 'this can't be'?" Dayne chuckled to himself, taking a slow, casual walk forward to the mechanical fiend. "I've travelled with them for a good two months or so, and I've learned a few things. Everyone of them are amazing people, and can do amazing things. I can't believe I'm respecting kids sixty-years younger than me, but I do! I really do! The point is though, when facing Keyblade Masters, you got to throw out things like 'impossible' and 'limits'. Because they – no, _we_ –"

At this moment, Tallgeese went to draw his remaining beam sabre. A burst of blue light covered Dayne, causing him to charge forth in the form of a crescent blade of energy, ramming into Tallgeese's right arm and severing it completely! The energy subsided, and Dayne now stood behind the in-pain Tallgeese, still shouldering his Keyblade.

"Throw out things like 'impossible' and 'limits'," he continued, not losing a step, "because we don't have any!"

"You bastard..." Tallgeese muttered in pain, before jumping back, sending out five of his Dragoons. "Attack! Wipe him out! Turn him into a bloody smear on the wall!"

The mobilized drones began to float and strafe around Dayne, firing from all four of their individual barrels, wrapping him in a storm of green energy beams. Without any sense of panic or distress, the blue-haired Guardian began to effortlessly dodge and sidestep every single shot fired, not even letting them glance off his side. Tallgeese watched in abject horror as his strategy began to fall apart due to one small, unforeseen variable, before Dayne decided to cut the games. In five simple strokes, Dayne sliced each Dragoon in half, turning the small machines into smoking scrap.

Again, Tallgeese was taken aback, utterly shocked by how much stronger Dayne was just because of a Keyblade. In truth, this was due to what Dawn had told Riku more than anything; when a wield first gains their Keyblade's true form, they gain a massive, one-time burst of power as a "preview" of what is to come. Regardless of the situation, Tallgeese could only gape and fume at how quickly the situation had turned on him.

"So, mister Supremacy," Dayne began, voice full of swagger, "What next? What brilliant strategy or counter do you have now?" Tallgeese gritted his teeth at the gall his opponent had. Dayne's Keyblade turned into a torrent of vivid blue electricity, compressing into a small, crackling orb. "Or are you at your wit's end? Aren't scientists suppose to plan for every eventuality and variable? That's a pretty poor plan you set in motion, not considering proper experimental process!"

"Shut up!" The Immortal barked. "I will not be mocked!" With a wave of his hand, two more Dragoons shot forth like spears.

"Too late!" Dayne countered, thrusting out the orb of lightning in his hand. "Blade Storm!" Thin swords made of electrical energy shot out of the orb, racing towards Tallgeese. The Dragoons, on a similar path, skimmed above the blades, before diving down, their blades impaling Dayne to the ground by his feet. Tallgeese pushed off the ground and into the air, avoiding the energy blades completely. Hovering in mid-air, Tallgeese aimed his remaining arm, equipped with one of his energy cannons, at Kairi and Namine, who were still standing on the same cliff face as they were from the start.

"Bad move..." Dayne turned the orb of light back into Keyblade form, before transforming it again, this time into a thin spear of electricity. "Passion Luster Bolt!" He hurled the bolt of lightning at Tallgeese, like a javelin, which effortlessly sailed through the air, quick as a flash, cleanly piercing Tallgeese through his chest plate! The bolt continued to fly through the air after leaving Tallgeese, the Immortal hanging in the air, slack and lifeless, a death rattle sounding from his throat, as a thick black ooze trailed from his mouth.

"I'll admit, I was just playing with my new toy before, but..then you had to cross a line." Dayne intoned, his swagger gone and replaced by a low, menacing growl. The bolt of lightning suddenly returned to his hand, turning back into a Keyblade. He looked at the dieing Immortal and shook his head, a scowl on his face. "I want the world's to hear my words, loud and clear: If you threaten those girls, then you shall not escape my wrath. And...if you do harm them, then may the Gods help your poor soul."

With a surge of electrical energy around his body, Tallgeese's mechanical frame violently exploded in an orange conflagration, utterly annihilating the Immortal, leaving no trace of him around.

Dayne let out a sigh of relief, as he had vanquished another demon. A bright light then overtook the mysterious, alien plane, and the three Keybladers found themselves back in the lock chamber, along with Sora, Roxas, and Riku. All the obstructions blocking their way were now gone.

Riku's eyes shot wide open when he saw what Dayne was holding. "Dayne...is that a-"

Kairi cut him off with a raised hand, as she marched towards her father's trusted bodyguard, fury etched on her face. Namine followed behind her, not as angry as Kairi, but still glaring at Dayne with hard eyes.

"What was that?" She asked, screaming at the top of her longs, her face flushed red in frustration and rage. "What was that! After all we've been through, after all the lessons you've had pounded into that annoyingly thick skull of yours, you have the gall to make me and Namine sit through that! You make us watch Tallgeese nearly kill you, and all because of some stupid excuse like 'It's my fight. I have to do this myself'. What is wrong with you!" She was crying now, her face almost as red as her hair. Out of a need to vent her anger, she began to pound her fists on Dayne's chest. "What were you thinking, huh? That we would like to see you die! What would have happened if you didn't get that Keyblade, and you did die, what the hell would we do? I can't even get mad at you either, now can I? Whatever happened to you seemed to have changed you a lot, so it doesn't feel fair! I can't even get angry at you! Damn it! I. Hate. You!"

With one final smash of her fists against his body, she broke down. Sobbing loud and painfully, chest heaving. Almost on instinct, Dayne put his arms around her in a fatherly hug, pushing her crying face into his chest, rubbing her back and telling her to calm down. He invited Namine into the hug too, and flaxen-haired girl joined her sister, releasing her own pent up frustrations.

"It's okay..." Dayne whispered at the two crying girls, stone-faced and soft voiced. "It's okay. I didn't mean to worry you two. I really didn't. I'm sorry.

**To Be Continued**

_Whoo! I'm glad that's finally over. I've been wanting to write that chapter for a good year or so. And I'm glad how it turned out!_

Keyblader Profile #7

Dayne Rivera

**Keyblade:** Butterfly Rain

**Master Element:** Lightning

**Class:** Knight

**Pre-Keyblade Powers:** Great amounts of strength and speed, extremely experienced warrior with over sixty-years of fighting under his belt

**Post-Keyblade Powers:** All physical attributes are increased, limited healing factor, able to conjure and manipulate lightning and electricity

_Next Chapter: Kairi the Light versus Kira the Dark. **Kingdom Hearts Genesis of Destiny, Chapter 45: Heirs of Radiance**_

_**

* * *

**__To Be Continued__**  
**_


	45. Heirs of Radiance

_Okay, yeah, I know. Another big hiatus. I know, I know. It pisses me off too. This time, my old laptop finally decided to go kaput and I needed to breakdown and get a new one. Another problem is that all my files are on my old busted computer, and I still need to do a file transfer, so I had to do most of this chapter ALL OVER AGAIN from the start. Oi me... It also doesn't help that the place I work at is going under in two months... And I had a vacation a few weeks back, AND I'm turning twenty in three weeks, and I'm not looking forward to that at all.  
_

_At least I have had time to plan ahead in the story and work some more things out. Should be interesting, I promise. And as a general tip, if I do have another hiatus like this, a good place to check is my Ticker on my home page, or my Facebook/Twitter stuff (links on the home page). I am such a shameless networking whore!_

_In other Angelo news, I recently started reading a new manga series. You probably have heard of it._ _One Piece. I'm honestly surprise I like OP as much as I do. I'm pretty burnt out on shonen fight series, I don't like the art style, I'm not a big fan of the pirate theme in general but... One Piece is really freaking good! Like...wow! Newest member to my |Top 15 Anime/Manga series". The characters are all likeable and awesome in their own way. The villains are threatening and creative. The power are amazing (this is the manga that makes turning into a giraffe and produce wax badass). The Alabasta Arc is one of the best arcs I've read in a long time, same with stuff like Enies Lobby, Sabody Archipelago Impel Down and Marineford (which are just one long series of "It Got Worse"). Really good series I recommend to most anyone. Only problem is its length. 493 anime episodes, 620 manga chapters. Ongoing. You're gonna be at this for a while, folks..._

_I also started playing Dungeons & Dragons recently. Fourth Edition this time. I made a character that is pretty much the exact opposite of every other character I make. I normally play slow, bulky Clerics who are armoured to the teeth, can swing a mace like DiMaggio, suck at range, and can drop heals like no one's business. No I'm playing a Minotaur Seeker, a fast-moving attacker who specializes in ranged attacks and laying debuffs on enemies. I'm enjoying it regardless! And now, I'm inspired to do a RPG arc in this fic somewhere down the line. Oh yes..._

_And...Hockey! As a proud son of Canada, I must now brag and tout the accomplishments of my hometown team! The Vancouver Canucks! First, they won the President's Trophy (awarded to the team with the most points in the regular season - ie, first in the league) for the first time in franchise history, Daniel Sedin has locked up the Art Ross Trophy, which is awarded to the player with the most points in the regular season (and this is only a year after his brother Henrik won it for the Canucks), AND Daniel also has a good chance at winning the Hart Trophy - essentially the regular season MVP - which Henrik also won last year. Needless to say, it has been a banner year for the old Canuckle Heads, and I'm really exited when the playoffs start later this week, 'cause this is the best chance the 'Nucks have had in...ever! Go Canucks, Go!  
_

_Anyway enough about me. Onto the chapter!_

_Also, to those confused about Dayne's stat block last chapter, well... I can't explain it without spoiling anything. You'll just have to wait a short while and it will make sense._

Chapter 45: Heirs of Radiance

"So, Dayne, what exactly happened when you got your Keyblade?" Sora asked. Following the defeat of both Kaiser and Tallgeese, and the removal of the lock barring the group's way, the group was marching slowly onward through the bowels of Infinity Paradiso. Dayne had mentioned that it didn't matter how fast they went; the castle became much more maze-like up ahead apparently, and it would take time to navigate (Roxas instantly called out for forgetting the layout, but Dayne paid him no real mind).

"Well, to be honest," the newly-crowned Keyblader said, scratching the side of his head, "I'm not too sure myself."

"Sounds like par for the course for being a Keyblader Wielder..." Riku commented in a mutter. Dayne gave a slight chuckle, but stifled it when the group past the next turn.

The maze of Paradiso had opened, revealing four possible paths to travel, any of which could be considered proper. Directly ahead of them was an all white hallway that shot forth, straight as an arrow, for as long as they could see. Built into the right wall of the chamber was another hall, this one sloping upwards and around into a curved ramp-way; directly across that hall was one more hall, this one built in the opposite direction as the right one, sloping straight downwards. Finally, a large white stone spiral staircase was carved into the wall of the room, climbing up higher and higher until it broke off into a straight path, directly above the party's heads and heading in the same direction they had just come from.

Dayne looked around the chamber in annoyed reminiscence. "All right...shall we roshambo to see which way we go first?"

"There has to be a better way to figure out where to go next." Namine pointed out. Dayne only shrugged, as if saying, 'Do you have any better suggestions?'

"Nam's right." Roxas added. "There are _much_ better ways to decide than a swift kick to the nuts."

Sora turned back to Dayne. "You sure you don't remember where to go?" Dayne was about to open his mouth in reply, when a musical, electronic beeping sounded out.

_Dee-dee-dee dee dee dee dee-dee._

A look of concern crossed Roxas's face at the music. "Starxys?" He asked, looking about, Keyblade ready to jump out in an instant.

Dee-dee-dee dee dee dee dee-dee.

"Nah, he didn't seem like he was too into electronica." Kairi pointed out in a casual way. Roxas still looked on warily. As much as he very much liked Namine's new, shorter hairstyle, was was still sore over Starxys's impromptu haircut.

Dee-dee-dee dee dee dee dee-dee.

"Sora, your shorts appear to be ringing." Riku said flatly, pointing at the origin of the sound.

"Ah!" Sora began to rummage through his pockets. "That's got to be Aqua." He pulled out a small, square black device, the source of the ringing, and flipped it open like a clam-shell phone.

"What's that?" Namine asked, as Sora peered open the bottom half of the clam-shell device, looking for something.

"_The Ark's_ D.L.O." He explained. "Aqua gave it to me so we could keep in contact." A DLO – or Direct Link Operator – were useful pieces of gear that came standard on most Gummi Ship's, allowing the ship's crew to operate the ship and it's functions while they were on the ground and it was in orbit. The DLO for _The Ark_ seemed to be a newer model, being much more compact and apparently capable of communications between DLO owners and the ship.

"And when were you gonna tell us this little important fact?" Dayne questioned.

Sora smiled back. "Well you see – ah! There it is!" Sora pressed a key on the lower half of the DLO and the upper half flashed to life, showing a straight blue line.

"_Sora? Sora? Are you there?"_ Aqua's voice sounded through the device, the line waving up and down in perfect timing with Aqua's volume, pitch and tone.

"_Aqua! What are you doing!"_ Terra's voiced came out of the DLO, sounding peeved at his sister. _"You got to stick to proper protocol with these things!"_

"_Oh, hush up."_ Aqua replied dismissively, her voice a little fainter than before. _"It's dealing with anything having to do with the Order or-"_

"_Aqua..."_

_"What now?"_

"_Mind your tongue. They can still here you."_

"_Eep!"_ Aqua squeaked from the other end. Everyone stood crowded behind Sora in order to hear, and shared sidelong glances with one another at the strange outburst.

"We're here, Aqua." Sora replied finally. "What's up?

"_Oh...oh! Good! We were just checking in on you all, seeing how you were doing."_ Aqua's voice came through.

"We're all doing okay." He responded. "In fact, we just had a bit of a surprise. Dayne got a Keyblade!"

"_WHAT!" _Terra roared over the DLO, causing everyone to jump. _"How did he get a Keyblade? How the hell did this happen? Oh boy, I'm not liking this at all..."_ Terra's voiced trailed off into faint muttering. Dayne took this opportunity to seize Sora's wrist and raise the communications device to his own mouth.

"Yeah! How do you like that samurai-pants?" He gloated loudly. "Not fitting in with whatever plans you had laid out, eh?"

"'Samurai-pants'?" Riku repeated in query.

"I heard it from Kalyn." Dayne said with a shrug. "Seriously, Silver, she may be a little rough around the edges, but I think you found a keeper there."

"W-what!" Riku's face turned a faint pink. "What on earth are you talking about?" The began to break away and bicker, as Sora continued his conversation with Aqua.

"_Just so you know Sora, Edward and his team have beaten the Immortal Starxys, and are making their way up the castle. Don't stay put. You'll probably run into some roadblocks to slow you down so you should run into each other not too long from now."_ She advised. _"Is there anything else you need?"_

"Yeah, we've sort of just come up to a bit of an puzzle." He explained. "There are four paths in this room, and we have no idea where to go."

"_Yes, I foresaw this happening, just hold up the screen facing into the room and I'll take care of the rest."_ Sora did has he was told and in around ten-seconds, a glowing blue beam fired out of the screen of the com-device, arcing into the sky and zooming all over, back and forth, as if it were looking for something. Eventually, it settled down and hit the floor, snaking over the white stone and towards the staircase built into the wall, rising up the room with the curvature of the stairs until it faded out of sight, leaving a blue glowing line along the path it had travelled.

"_That should lead you directly to where Zirconiade is and, hopefully, where Cassius is too."_

Sora eyed the line, following it's path. "Thanks a bunch, Aqua! We'll take care of this quickly and be back real soon, alright?"

"_Okay."_ Aqua replied, one last time. _"I'll leave you all to your business. Good luck everyone. See you soon."_ With that, the DLO shut off and Sora pocketed it.

"We have our heading!" Sora declared, emulating an old ally of his. "So let's get going guys." The group nodded in agreement and followed the blue line etched on the stairway, following it all the way around, back into the hallway into connected to, and then heading right along where the line lead them, ignoring every other side path and stair that entered their periphery vision.

After about five minutes more of travelling, Kairi spoke up to break the repetitive sound of their footsteps resounding off the floors, echoing off the walls and ceiling. "So, Dayne, are you ever gonna tell us what happened? W-when you got your Keyblade, I mean." She was still a little sore with him about how he acted during the fight, but was very aware of the monumental change that had occurred within him.

Dayne slowed his pace, the others doing so as well to match. A sombre look had crossed his long face. "That's...again, I'm not too sure as to what to say..." He looked at his companions, four of them less than a fifth his age, Riku roughly around a fourth his age, and they were looking back at him with the innocent eyes of someone so young, ever trusting and telling him they would understand whatever he said, no matter how crazy. He chuckled to himself, shaking his head, before continuing. "So, right before Tallgeese hit me with his attack, the world started to go...just slow is the best way to describe it. Everything began to move to a standstill, and then, I just started to fall. It was like falling through thin air, and my whole body was tingling, and the next thing I knew I was standing on this large, stained-glass platform. A weird place, I'll tell you that much..."

"It was your heart." Sora explained. "The glass pillars, the Station of Awakening; it's meant to represent you heart."

Dayne tilted his head sideways, excepting that Sora was probably the most knowledgeable on these kinds of things. "Right. So I woke up in my heart, and...Rain was there." Shock overtook everyone's face at Dayne's words. Kairi let out a small gasp, and Riku muffled up a sound that mixed interest and surprise. "Yeah. It was weird seeing her again. To say the least. Nice though, all the same." A warm, faint smile crossed his face.

"What did she say?" Kairi asked.

"She told me not to give up." He stated firmly. Whatever else had happened to him in the past little while, all of today, the past week, that stood out to him. Not to give up. "And that it wasn't her fault that she died." He looked at Sora and Kairi. "You were right. I was blaming myself. Maybe I was just in denial, or maybe I was only blaming myself deep down in my subconscious, but I certainly was. But I was wrong." Another smile appeared on his face, this time his teeth showing through his lips. Every time he said he was wrong, it felt like the weight was lifted off him all over again. "She only had a short time left to live, so she threw herself at Cassius trying to save us. Trying to give all of you a chance to live life to its fullest." He let out a sigh. "And she told me that – if by some miracle – I don't die soon, then...I should forget about her. Live my life to the fullest, without my past shackling me down."

He fell silent afterwards, as did everyone else, the sound of footsteps being dominant again. Dayne was chewing his lip in contemplation, and everyone was unsure of what to say. Except for Sora.

"I think she's right." He said, brightly. This drew an eye from Dayne, the others also looking at him curiously. "Well, she wants you to be happy, obviously. Everyone wants their other to be happy." He looked at Kairi shyly, and wondered for a second. Would he do the same? Would he want Kairi to move on if he died in one case? Would he be gracious like Rain, or just jealous? He pushed the uncomfortable hypothetical from his mind and returned to Dayne. "It's just a great thing of hers to do, and I think you should be accommodating of her wishes, yeah?"

Dayne regarded Sora with a second, but it wasn't with any form of malice despite the seriousness. He just looked at Sora with pensive grey-green eyes, before turning away and muttering, "Yeah, I suppose so, kid..." Dayne then summoned his large Keyblade and began to stare at shimmering blue weapon.

When Dayne said that he had met Rain within his heart, something clicked in Sora's brain. Something he had to pursue.

_Hey, Reina? You there?_ He mentally poked at his Keyblade Spirit. He was very grateful at the function of communicating with the Spirit; as easy as turning on a light switch.

_Yes Sora?_ She replied. _What is it?_

_|Well, I was thinking. Dayne's a Keyblade Warrior now, and he met Rain, so I was thinking-_

_That Rain was his Spirit?_ She finished for him.

Sora figured that the train of logic was easy to follow. He peered over to Kairi and the others for a second, wondering if any of them had made contact and, if so, if they had made the same leap he had. _You read my mind._

_I think...that would be highly unlikely._

Sora was confused. _But, I mean, it makes sense right?_

_It does to an extent. But there is another...prerequisite in order for someone to be a Chosen Spirit._ Reina replied.

_And what might that be?_

Sora could see Reina shaking her head in his mind's eye. Whenever Sora had a conversation with her like this, it felt as if she was standing right next to him or in front of him, only she wasn't. She wasn't really there, but he could still see her and all her expressions. _I am afraid that I cannot divulge that either._ An annoyed expression crossed Sora's face. _And yes, I know that being a Keyblade Wielder is the most obtuse and difficult profession in the universe. I have heard it all before. The thing is, there are just certain things that must be learned in time. If you learn everything at once...it could end very badly. Knowledge is power, but only in the right hands. And too much knowledge is as bad as having too much of anything. Knowing what I know could end dangerously for you._

_You're doing all of this to protect me?_

Reina nodded, her face rather grim, with her hand lightly tracing the edge of her eyepatch. _The path of a Keyblader is a very dangerous path. The wielder always balancing between light and darkness, victory and defeat, proper balance...and utter chaos. The last thing in the world I want you to see is for you to slip off the path and end up...well, now I'm just rambling. You have more important things to tend to._ With that, the spectral Reina receded, leaving Sora to ponder more and more cryptic statements, and continue the long march towards the peak of the castle.

"Hey, Dayne?" Roxas was noticing the newly-crowned wielder's rather zealous gazing at his Keyblade. "What's up with you and the Keyblade? You trying to puzzle out something from it? Good luck!"

"Well actually...yeah. I'm trying to figure something out." He admitted, his eyes still trained on the Keyblade. He hadn't been moving the weapon at all, just intently staring at it. "Though, like you said, trying to get answers on this adventure is like trying to draw blood from a stone."

"Eh, you get you to it." Sora said dismissively.

"So what's your big question?" Riku asked.

Dayne grunted a little, letting the blade drop to his side. "Well, when I fought Tallgeese, he pretty much had me beat when he disabled my healing factor. Then, when I got this, not only were all my wounds gone, but he couldn't injure me anymore. It has something to do with the Keyblade, but-"

"Oh, that's any easy one." Namine said, in a rather casual manner. "Everyone knows a Keyblade amplifies the bearer's per-existing skills and powers. I guess you got a little something extra since you're an Immortal."

"Well, now I feel incredibly stupid..." Dayne mumbled.

Riku continued Namine's explanation. "Yeah, it's like Sora and I did a lot of sparring with toy swords as kids. Our fighting styles are based on the stuff we learned sparring."

Dayne nodded along with the explanation, but stopped after nod four, noticing something. "Well, if that's true, then," He turned to Kairi, "how do you explain her skills?"

The redhead looked rather surprised. "What?"

"Well, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but you weren't much of a fighter back before all this crap happened to you, right?"

Kairi looked slightly alarmed now, a bead of sweat on her forehead. "Yeah, but I'm not totally inactive. I've been heavily involved in dance, swimming, softball, volleyball, and gymnastics since I was like seven."

Dayne remained unconvinced. "Yeah, but that probably make your style more graceful. Kind of like a dance battler. You fight more like Sora using a one-handed grip."

Kairi seemed to have gone into full-panic mode, eyes darting nervously between Dayne and Sora. _Oh crap... Are they gonna find out? Six months of hiding... I don't want Sora to find out! It's too embarrassing!_

Her panic shot up even higher when she saw Namine pipe up to fill in Dayne's query, responding almost innocuously. "That's 'cause she spent two weeks-"

_NO!_ Kairi jumped into action, sliding behind Namine and clasping a gloved hand over her flaxen-haired sister's mouth. She then looked at the boys with a reassuring, if panicked smile, and began to go off, rapid-fire. "Hey-hey! What are we doing blabbing about this stuff like we don't have a care in the world! We got Immortals to stop, a world to save. Okay? Alright! Let's get a going then!" She then switched her grip on Namine to a full headlock and began to speed down the hall, following the blue line, dragging the ex-Nobody behind her, and leaving the four boys utterly mystified and lost.

"That was strange..." Sora blinked. By now, Kairi and Namine were out of sight, with no sign of the redhead slowing down.

"Girls are strange, period." Riku replied with a shrug.

"Says the guy who considers in a good day when he is able to _talk_ to women." Roxas quipped with a bright grin.

"Like you're one to talk." Riku shot back. "You're no Johnny Casanova, you know. You've had a single girlfriend. Big deal."

"Hey! I'll have you know, I once had a shot with Larxene!"

"And you're proud of the fact that you once had a shot with a psychotic, sadomasochist, dominatrix bitch... Who is possibly a paedophile since she went after you?" Riku snarked right back.

"No, I just want you to get the facts straight." Roxas shrugged off. "I also think I could have scored with the Olette in the virtual Twilight Town. But the point is, next to you, I'm king of the ladykillers!"

"So...I'm a little lost with all of this." Dayne spoke up, having been mildly entertained with their back and forth. "I take it Riku isn't big with the ladies?"

"It's not that he isn't a big hit with the ladies," Sora explained. "It's just the ladies aren't really a big hit with him."

Dayne cocked an eyebrow. "Is...is he gay?"

"NO!" Riku yelled down in retort, looking and sounding utterly insulted, horrified, and mortified by the accusation. "Not that there's anything wrong with that I mean – Okay! Kairi's right! Enough of this middling around crap, let's get moving!"

Riku bolted down the path himself, leaving Roxas to sigh to himself. "You know, I woke up this morning thinking it was gonna be a weird day, but this takes the cake. Even for us." He disparaged with a shake of his head.

Even with Roxas's protesting, the three followed after the other half of the party who had already darted forward. Following the blue line, they all knew that there were still three more Immortals that had to be toppled before all could be said and done: Creed, the final body of Cassius, and Kira. It had been a long, long time since Sora had encountered the fallen royal and his brain just shifted gears when he thought about him.

_Kira and Kairi, the last two members of the Radiant Garden's dynasty..._ He thought about the two; about how Kira tormented Kairi endlessly, about how opposite they truly were, even though they were blood siblings. Kira: violent, psychotic, and dark. Kairi: sweet, kind, and full of brilliant light. They were going to fight eventually – sooner than later – Sora knew that very well. Maybe she had run into him already? Who knew how far they had gotten ahead of the others. _Is that why you were running Kairi? To meet with you brother? To fight him and finally finish him?_

The prospect of this near-future filled Sora with dread.

* * *

"What in the name of the Light was that, girl?"

Namine was breathless after being dragged the length of Aqua's pathway. Their path eventually came to an abrupt stop in the room, with a single ladder leading upwards a tall chute, and a faint bit of light coming from the exit. Aqua's line followed the ladder straight up.

"Sorry, sorry." Kairi huffed back. She should have saw this coming eventually. She figured Namine had nearly every memory she did, so her remembering the experiences from January shouldn't have surprised her so. "It's just-"

"It's a sensitive issue with you." Namine finished. "I know. I should have known. But really, why is it so bad that Sora knows it?" Namine and Kairi locked matching eyes, Kairi looking rather small and afraid. "That you trained with Ember?"

Kairi cringed at the name. More so than she ever did when Dayne called her 'Princess'. "I just... It was stupid of me to even do that..." She rubbed her left arm in a hurt manner. "It was stupid and embarrassing and pointless and I'm glad that only me, you, and her know about it." Namine stepped behind Kairi and wrapped her arms around her shoulder in a light hug.

"There's nothing stupid about wanting to be able to help Sora." She said sweetly. "Besides, even if it was, do you think Sora would care? Do you think he would have issues with you over it? If he find out, he'll probably be swept away by your bravery and readiness."

Kairi allowed a small smile. "Really?"

"Yes!" Namine let out a half-exasperated sigh. "You two are simply amazing! Even dating one another, you two still can't figure out what the other one is thinking, what they feel. Sora is so totally enamoured by you, that you could probably pussy-whip him into your little servant boy if you had half the mind to." The redheaded sister gave the flaxen-haired one a very weird, creeped out look, but still blushed, nonetheless. "That boy has been worshipping the ground you walked on since you were kids, what makes you think he would act any differently now?"

"I guess..." She was still a little unconvinced. Mostly because Namine's reasoning for her training was a little off. It seemed she didn't know every single thing about Kairi. Though, she had tried her hardest to repress that memory as hard as she could, do to feeling childish and stupid about it. She had desperately wanted Sora to like her, she didn't think anyone could possibly like her is she just kept being the load. She wanted to be able to fight, to stand beside him, just so he would think of her like she thought of him...

"You're putting too much stress on this stuff." Namine's words snapped Kairi back into lucidity. "About Sora, and the Keyblade, and Kira, and the Garden. Just, let it fall to the side and do what feels right. Be yourself and follow your heart." She ended with a cheery nod that made Kairi smile more.

"You seem really confident about all this."

"I am. That stuff seems to have gotten us this far, and I'm not one to complain about my position." She told her sister.

A few minutes later, the boys caught up with them; Riku much farther ahead of the other for some reason. No one seemed particularly interested in why Kairi had ran off, for which she was grateful of. She put on a happy face for their sake, and her own sake, but Namine's words still stayed with her. _Maybe she's right. All my life I've been the reserved little Princess. I'm just afraid..._ A lot of what she bottled up had to do with Sora, what she thought about him every night... Very private, passion, embarrassing thoughts that could very well frighten people off if they were let loose and...

She mentally smacked herself, trying to act as subdued as possible as to not draw attention to herself. _What am I thinking!_ She snapped at herself internally. _I'm fifteen and I'm thinking about...THAT! About totally changing my life. This isn't me._

_Oh, this is very much you! I should know. I know your powers, and your powers are very indicative of who you really are deep down inside. I should know, I should know!_

Looking around the ladder room, Kairi only saw Sora, Roxas, Riku, Namine, and Dayne, and the voice that just rung out in her head belonged to none of them. The bizarre, dramatic, somewhat distant male voice.

_So, in addition to having a mid-life crisis at fifteen, I'm going crazy._ She sighed. _Just perfect._

"So, I guess it's all upstairs from here?" Riku asked the group, motioning to the ladder. He already had a foot on the bottom rung.

"Seems that way." Sora replied. "Though, why is it that all the big battles happen at the top of these castles and dungeons?"

Riku shrugged. "Not true. You had to go down in Hollow Bastion." He offered.

"Yeah, and I played a video game once that had a gaol built from the sea floor up, and the entrance was the very top of the gaol." Roxas put forth. "It didn't sound like a lovely place. Even for a prison."

"'Heavenly Fantasia 3'?" Dayne said to Roxas, drawing a surprised look from all present. "What? Just 'cause I'm technically seventy-eight means I can't game? Pfft, that's ageism, people."

No one replied until Sora opened his mouth. "You're seventy-eight?" Dayne just rolled his eyes.

"Well, I've lived seventy-eight years, I have no clue how old this body is. Now if we can get climbing, I would prefer not to talk about my age. Come on, people! Let's go!"

Dayne marshaled everyone up the ladder, once again following Aqua's path. Kairi and Sora were the last two to go up.

Sora waved his arms to the ladder and, with a smile, said, "Uh... Lady's first?" Only after did the two words did he realized what an error he had made. Kairi was wearing a skirt! _Oh crap! This is what happens when I try to be all suave and gallant. She probably thinks I'm some sort of skeeve-o pervert now._

Much to Sora's surprise, Kairi did not yell or hit him for the blunder. There was not so much as a glare or a dirty look or even a blush. She simply smiled graciously, walked to the ladder, and proceeded to climb up it, leaving a thunderstruck Sora behind.

"What just happened?" He murmured. The spectral Reina appeared before him once more.

_Is it not obvious?_ Sora began to climb, Reina somehow managing to stay in view the whole time. _She's sending you a signal. She's comfortable with you around her body. With seeing it. The signal might be even more than that._

_More?_ Sora replied. He was forcing every fibre in his body to keep his eyes on the ladder rungs before him. Whatever he did, he would not look up at Kairi. The possibility that she could give him a panty-shot made his face twitch unnaturally. _What more could she be signalling._

_Sex._

Sora nearly slipped off the ladder, reeling at the breeziness Reina said it. _Don't say that! Don't even think it! I don't want to think – well I DO want to think it but...we're only fifteen._

_And clearly in love beyond your years._ Reina responded sagely.

_We're fifteen! And it's just..._ He could not deny that he thought about Kairi like that from time to time. He was a hormone-filled teenager after all, and like all healthy teens, he fantasized every now and then. But it still wasn't right. She was worth more than that. More than just physical gratification.

_It doesn't have to be vulgar or dirty, Sora._ Reina continued, as if Sora never gave his feeble protest. _Sex, love-making – whatever you want to call it – can be this grand, elaborate expression of deep love that both people share for one another. Like the kind you and Kairi share._

Sora fell silent, letting Reina's speeches fall on deaf ears. He didn't want to talk about this, and he certainly shouldn't be focusing on something like this, with what was at hand. Though, he did get one last shock for the day. While he was conversing with Reina, and stuck in this pensive brood, his focus fell for a second, and his head craned skyward... His eyesight following up the ladder, beyond the swishing, pink-trimmed skirt, climbing up long, shapely, smooth legs, to the treasure of -

"GACK!"

Sora nearly fell off the ladder again.

* * *

Trying to push this sightly incident out of his mind by the time he clambered out of the hole the ladder led to, Sora was surprised that no one was questioning why he was behind Sora. A second, later, he found out why.

The ladder led to the top of a flat tower, free of crenellation and decoration on it's circular-shaped surface. The sky of the realm was a dim mix between blood red and black, giving the entire situation an ominous feeling. Across the way of the tower, was a very thin bridge, spanning the distance between this tower and another one, held up by buttresses underneath it's thin body. The second tower was very thin, and very tall, easily dwarfing any other point of the castle and forming the highest point of Infinity Paradiso. The tower was topped with a large glass dome, flashing green and gold lights emanating from the dome. Aqua's magical path travelled directly across the span and into the domed tower.

And standing between the Keyblader's and the tower, in his coal-black plate armour, was Kira

"So, you finally came." Kira's voice was a cold rasp. His eyes were the same void pools of dark blue as always, and were trained on Kairi, as always.

Without much warning, Kira's left hand shot forward, and a shadowy band launched off it. The band wrapped around Kairi's wrist, and she was forcefully yanked forward, halfway between Kira and her friends.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled. He and Dayne were ready to charge.

"No one shall interfere!" Kira snarled. Purple lights flicked from his finger tips, soaring over to the five other Keyblade Wielders. They struck them across the neck, causing Sora and Dayne to flinch, and the lights spread across their necks, forming thin black bands.

While the others were stunned and confused as to the point of it all, Kira threw another ball of purple light, this one feel at the feet of Sora. The light sunk into the ground, creating a black splotch where it had been, and the splotch slowly spread into a shadowy circle, ensnaring the five.

"Is this suppose to hold us?" Dayne challenged. He and Sora charged again, but when they reached the border the circle created, an invisible force held them back, and electricity began to crackle through the air and Sora and Dayne's bodies. They were eventually thrown back, but it didn't deter them. As soon as they were helped back to their feet, Sora and Dayne charged again. Again, they hit the invisible barrier, electricity sparked, and they were thrown back.

After being thrown back on the third try, Roxas, fed up, smacked the two across the backs of their heads. "If it didn't work the first two times, why did you think it would work a third time!"

Kairi held out a hand. "It's okay, everyone." She said. "I'm ready to take him on alone. Just...hang back." She summoned Oathkeeper to her hand and faced off with her brother.

"Finally decided to stop hiding girl?" Kira sneered. Dark energy was building up at his right hand.

"I beat you the last time, and I'll do it again!" Kairi shouted back. She then added, "Kross!" The darkness-based Immortal flinched.

All the energy building over his hand began to swirl about violently. Kira raised his arm, as if holding a sword. "That boy is dead!" The energy solidified in Kira's hand, taking the form of a black-metal scimitar, shaped like a wickedly sharp fang. "Only the King of Darkness remains! Darkness Soul!" Wraith-like shadows began to fly from all corners of the sky, being dragged into Kira's being. He roared in an agonizing battle cry, as the shadows wrapped around his body in a cloak-like aura, a blanket of shadowy flames surrounding him.

Kira charged across the tower grounds, rapidly closing the distance between him and Kairi. Kairi nimbly dodge under the sideways slash of the fang-shaped sword, and stood back up as Kira's momentum put Kira farther away from her. With a shake of Oathkeeper, Kairi launched an Exploding Firaga spell, the tiny ball of fire sailing through the air, before striking Kira as he was turning about, hitting him in the ribs. The small spurt of flame expanded violently into a large explosion and raging fire. Kira staggered back in pain as the flames died down, but he recovered quickly and charged again, somehow moving faster than the first time.

Kairi could only stand her ground this time, unable to dodge in time, or at least in the way she did before. With Kira inches away from her, Kairi stepped to the side and held out Oathkeeper where she was, where the scimitar would have pierced her. The sword entered the gap between the two bars that formed the body of the Keyblade. She slid around the still charging Kira, now behind him, with the grip of her Keyblade and the entangled sword causing Kira's sword arm to wrap across his chest. The Immortal was not impressed nor flustered by the tactic. His sword suddenly began to bubble and slither around, eventually extending into a large, razor-sharp shadow. The shadow blade shot high into the sky, and quickly arced backwards, snaking down and behind Kairi and stabbing her in the back.

As Kairi screamed in pain, and the forced spectators watched in horror, Kira grabbed his sword with both hands, and lurched forward, swinging the blade with all his might. The long shadow reacted in kind, flinging Kairi forward like she was bait on a fishing rod. Kairi crashed onto the floor, blood spurting from her back as the shadow withdrew itself from her. Kira lumbered forward, the flames around his body slowly dieing down.

"Angelic Revolver!" Six bursts of white light shot off Oathkeeper's tip, the bullets flying through the air and all landing on their mark. Four made dents in the breast-plate of the armour, while two pierced through the front of the armour and into Kira's flesh, who howled in pain in response.

With both Ralleone siblings now bleeding, Kira lurched a step back, giving Kairi a chance to get back on her feet. She waved a hand over her back, the green light of her Curaga spell washing over the wound and stopping the bleeding.

"Darkness Soul!" The dieing flames around Kira suddenly burst to life again, even larger than they were before. He took a fighting stance, ready to strike again, but Kairi was quicker to the draw. She fired another salvo round from her Angelic Revolver attack, all six burst of light hitting Kira again. Mid-attack, Kira began to march forward, seemingly uninterested in dodging the attacks. In fact, even though three of the light bullets pierced Kira this time, more blood leaking down the black plate, Kira seemed unfazed. He was harmed by the attack, but he showed no signs that he felt any sort of pain like before.

"Do not toy with me, girl!" Kira snarled again, continuing to march at Kairi like an unstoppable force. "You will not defeat me, you will not stop me from taking my God-given right!"

"Why are you so fixated with the Garden?" Kairi asked. Kira ignored her, and the two crossed blades, the force running all the way up Kairi's arm, rattling her to the bone. "Firaga Blade!" Oathkeeper became engulfed in bright red and orange flames, winding around the twin bars of the ivory Keyblade. On the second clash of blades, the flaming Oathkeeper bit into the metal of Kira's scimitar, flames flying off the Keyblade and raining onto Kira. He grunted, his aura dieing down again, but did not back down. "You've obviously not identifying yourself as Kross anymore, so why would you want the Garden? How could you get the Garden?"

"Because it's mine!" Kira screamed, the flames flowing outward with his anger. "Ralleone blood flows through my veins, regardless of what has happened to my body. I will take my kingdom back, I will take my birthright, and I will not let a weak-willed fool like you sit on my throne!" A gale of black wind shot out from Kira's being, causing Kairi to slide backwards, towards the edge of the tower, just a simply dead drop into a precipice of blackness. "But there will be a difference! Oh yes..." A reptilian hiss resounded from his lips, as his arm extended into a shadowy rope again. It coiled around Kairi's ankles and dragging her away from the edge, flinging her around like a toy. "The Garden fell to the Heartless, to Maleficent, to the Black Knight Anarados! Therefore, the light is inferior to darkness." Kairi got back to her feet and tried to cast some sort of spell on Kira, but she didn't get the chance. Shadowy hands sprung from all over Kira's body, his hands and sword and the fiery aura of blackness cloaking him. The hands entwined Kairi in their grip, constricting every inch of her body, raising her into the air, and causing Oathkeeper to fall slack from her hands. A evil smile spread across Kira's face, his once dead eyes lighting up with wicked triumph.

"The Radiant Garden – the Kingdom of Endless Light – will be reborn as the Kingdom of Undying Darkness!"

All the hands binding Kairi began to grow, smothering her in a orb of dark energy. Kira clapped his hands together, causing the cocoon ensnaring his sister to burst into a violent blast of dark energy and flame!

"Kairi!" Sora screamed in horror, as a billowing smoke began to cover the tower, Kira's cackling piercing it. The brunet ran to the edge of the circle, but was stopped from hitting the barrier futilely by Riku placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Damn it all!" Dayne snapped, pacing in the confining circle. "I can't just sit here and watch this! This is painful!"

"You mean, painful like when you made us watch Tallgeese utterly murder you twenty-minutes ago?" Namine shot back flatly, causing the raving Dayne to deflate. He looked flustered for a moment, before cursing under his breath.

"Stupid situational irony..."

"We got to do something though." Sora insisted. The smoke slowly subsided, revealing a struggling, injured Kairi, trying to get to her feet.

"Yeah!" Dayne agreed, the pep restored in him. "Does any of you have a spell that could remove this...thing?"

Sora scratched his head. "I think I might be able to pull of an Esuna."

Dayne looked at him dully. "Oh, an Esuna, that's great..." He said sarcastically. He then seized Sora by the collar of his jacket and began shaking him. "If we were paralysed, poisoned or petrified!"

"Dayne, you need to calm down." Came Namine, firm and calm yet quiet.

"I think you need to get pissed off! How are you so calm, anyways? That's your sister out there!"

"I know. But I also know we can't do anything. I'm afraid and worried, but getting angry and yelling at one another won't accomplish anything.

"We're just going to need to wait."

As much as everyone didn't like the situation, Namine was right. They had no way of getting out of the barrier, and all they could really do was wait on Kairi and hope she could beat Kira once more.

"I won't let you Kira..." Kairi breathed heavily. The explosion has left her an absolute wreck, burned and broken, sapped of energy, her clothing was heavily damaged. Even the enchanted breast-plate that had protected her so many times before, was splitting down the back. "I won't let you do that to the Garden..."

"_You_ won't?" Kira raised and eyebrow and cackled at Kairi's defiance. "Who the hell are you anyway? Aren't you the girl who is abjectly opposed to even being called 'Princess'?" Kairi charged him, swinging Oathkeeper down. Kira caught the Keyblade in his hand, ignoring the shallow cut it dealt, and tossed it aside, bringing Kairi with it. "You can't defend yourself from me, and you think you can save an entire kingdom? An entire dynasty spanning thousands of years!" He spat at her, punting the downed redhead, causing her to shriek in pain and spit out blood. "If a weakling like you were to ascend to the throne, the Garden would just fall again." The shadowy limb stretched out of Kira once more, slithering around Kairi's waist and hoisting her into the air again.

Oathkeeper slowly rose up, shakily aimed at Kira, rainbow coloured energy charging at it's tip. "Rainbow Rain..." The attack was barely a whisper on her bloody lips, but twenty-one bolts of energy, spanning the colours of the rainbow, shot forth in wide arcs, seven at a time. The first salvo wave caught Kira by surprise, the holy light beams causing him to stagger back in pain, the fiery aura around him finally dieing out for good. The second wave hit him and his shadow arm vanished, dropping Kairi back to the ground. The third wave hit, and the being of darkness that was Kira yowled in pain from the searing light-elemental barrage.

Another ball of rainbow energy began to form, the white Keyblade still aimed at a now bleeding and very injured Kira. "I don't need to take the throne, like you said, I have an aversion." She began to slowly rise to her feet, Keyblade still trained on the armoured Immortal. "But I will protect. The Ralleone blood runs through my blood too, so I will be damned if I see the Garden destroyed again!" The rainbow ball was now the size of her torso. _The final stroke,_ She thought, almost mournfully as she eyed her pain-wracked brother. _I'm sorry, Kross. Rest in Peace._

"Shining Prism-"

Kira shot his arm forward, a shadow extending from the limb, this one taking the form of a large, monstrous fist instead of a snake-like limb. The fist charged through the air faster than Kairi could speak, striking her directly in her face and chest. The impact was unbelievable. Beyond anything Kairi had felt in her life. It was as if her entire body was being folded inward like a sheet of paper. Oathkeeper flew from his grasp, the energy at it's tip dissipating, and Kairi flew back several feet, slamming hard against the floor, skipping twice, before skidding to a stop, trailing a crimson smear behind her.

"It doesn't matter how you try to protect it, you simply cannot! You think you can protect it without accepting the throne! Don't spout that kind of bullshit to me! That naivety does not belong within a royal!" Between ravings, Kira sent out more shadowy limbs, one of them binding Kairi by the waist and chest, dragging her closer to him. Her head was lolling back and forth; the last attack had sapped nearly all of her strength. Three more shadowy limbs stayed behind Kira, coiled like snakes about to strike. "You lack the resolve," one shadow struck out, slamming her across the cheek, "And the will," A second one shot forth, driving itself into her stomach, "And the confidence!" Two shadows looped down and up, uppercutting Kairi in the stomach simultaneously. The other did the opposite, striking downward, braining her in the back of her skull with a sickening _thud_. "The strength!" _Thud._ "The ability!" _Thud._ "The wisdom!" _Thud._ "The experience!" _Thud._ "The grace, the intuition, the sense, the memories!" _Thud, thud, thud, thud_! "You have none of that! _None!_ What do you have? What are you? Who are you? Do you have any abilities that could help that dieing, wounded kingdom? I say: NO! NO, NO, _NO, NO, NO, **NO, NO, NO!**_"

Kira had devolved into a beast by now, a monstrous, ravening beast, frothing at the mouth, veins bulging all over his face and bugged-out eyes. With a meaningless fling of the shadows, as if Kira was throwing away a piece of scrap paper, the phantom limbs chucked Kairi away, sending the brutalized and broken girl flying through the air...and right in the barrier Kira had set to lock the others away! Electricity sizzled around the enclosure, coursing through Kairi's body, as the barely conscious girl let out a wordless scream, more blood flying from her mouth. The buzzing of the electricity was complimented by Kira's monstrous cackling.

Two more limbs appeared, picking the limp, twitching Kairi off the wall and dragging her slowly – and almost gently – towards him. When she was right in front of him, he dismissed the shadows and locked his armoured hands around her throat.

"Goodbye, Kairi..." He hissed, cold, black hands crushing around her windpipe. She was barely lucid, too out of it to fight, but she could still feel it. Feel the death on his hands, the pain of her throat being smashed and crushed. She could feel her face turn bright red, and then dark purple, as Kira drove the last remaining air out of her being. "Die. Just, die sweet sister...Die and fall away into darkness like every Ralleone. Let your light be extinguished..."

As the darkness came to take her, the fingers on Kairi's right hand twitched, and Oathkeeper reappeared in her grip...

* * *

She could feel them. She couldn't seem them through the dark veil, but she could feel the iron snakes crisscrossing her naked body, biting deeply and coldly into her flesh, pinning her to wherever she was.

Kairi was trapped, afraid, maybe dieing. But was she alone?

"Help! Someone! Anyone...please?"

A few seconds past, and nothing happened. Thirty-seconds, no one came, and she could feel the irons dragging her down. A minute, no one replied. The snakes were contorting her body into painful positions. Five-minutes gone, she was afraid now, the coldness of the fear cutting out even the pain.

"Can you say my name?"

"What?" It wasn't Sora, as she had hoped. Or even Namine, Roxas, Dayne, or Riku.

"Can you say my name. I do wonder..."

It was the voice from earlier, before the fight. The dramatic man! "I...I can't say your name if I don't know who you are. I can't even see you!"

"Hmm...I suppose you're not there right now. No matter. There is time to be had. But these chains are a problems. You're rather burdened, aren't you, afraid? Uncertain? Doubtful? Repressed? An interesting-"

Even though she was the one in distress, she was growing a little weary with the speaker. "Um... Could you please free me?"

"Oh, right. What was I thinking. As a gentleman, I would be remiss to let such a beauty like you remain imprisoned."

The loud, high sound of metal on metal resounded through the blackness. One by one, the chains went slack and fell away, and Kairi went from sinking into the blackness, to falling headlong downwards.

When she made landfall again – a rather slow, gentle landing for such a rapid descent – Kairi was relieved that she was clothed once more. She also found her surroundings very familiar, because she found herself within her heart, at he Station of Awakening.

The mural of the pillar had changed since her last trip here. The centre was split into two semi-circles, with an image in the middle of the half, and a depiction of Kairi on the edge. The left circle featured an older Kairi (Kairi noted how this version of her looked stunningly similar to Aqua) in a magnificent white and gold gown, complete with an elegant, light tiara on her head; the castle at the Radiant Garden stood at the centre of the half. On the right side, was Kairi as she was now, still young, wearing more casual clothing, and facing an image of the tropical island of Salm. A ring enclosed the central mural, showing all of the people that were important to Kairi. Sora – his image captured in a white heart – Namine, Riku, Dayne, Rain, Roxas, Aqua, Erica, her mother and father, Hayner, Olette, Pence, Selphie, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey. The outermost ring was simply composed of elegant, stylized heart symbols.

Though her eyes still remained on the mural, she felt a hand fall on her shoulder, and she suddenly twisted about, being spun _en pointe_ as someone held onto her right hand.

"It truly is an honour, m'lady."

When she finally stopped spinning, she at long last got a look at the mysterious voice she had been hearing; the strange, dramatic, gentlemanly voice. He was a young man, tall and lean, full of life and energy. Dressed in an immaculate two-piece suit – cream coloured slacks, a gold, embroidered vest, and a snow white collared shirt – he gave off an air of class and sophistication, and his voice seemed to fit his appearance perfectly. White, brightly polished wing-tips covered his feet, and a thin-bladed short sword was fitted into his belt; his hair was a dark blond, shortly cropped all over, except for two long, heavy-looking bangs than hung over his face, with the bangs being coloured a silvery-white. The upper half of his thin, sharply-defined face was covered by a black domino mask, with vivid eyes the colour of mercury shining on through.

"Young Lady Kairi." The man-in-white gave a sweeping bow at the feet of Kairi. "It is an honour to meet you. My name is..." He trailed off, as if not knowing where to go from there. "And I..." he paused dramatically, "Am your Keyblade Spirit!"

Kairi looked a stunned. "What?" She didn't know what to say. One moment she was fighting Kira, then she was naked and being held down by chains (something she would rather see happen to Sora...), now she was meeting an overly dramatic being in her heart who claimed to be the Spirit of her Keyblade. "You're my what?"

"Keyblade Spirit." He reiterated. He then noticed the look on her face and cocked his head sideways. "You... don't believe me? You never noticed something about your Keyblade?"

"No!" Kairi replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She summoned Oathkeeper. "I just thought that these were really powerful magical weapons. But...Spirit?"

"Spirits." He corrected. "One per Keyblade. And you are technically correct as to what Keyblades are. It's just that we Spirits," he tapped Oathkeeper, "provide the 'powerful' and 'magical' parts."

"Okay..." Kairi decided not to press the issue and just go with it. This man seemed like the type to be immune to logic. Besides, this weirdness was on par with the other weirdness she had encountered. "So, could you tell me your name? I didn't catch it earlier."

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you my name. Only you can tell me my name."

Kairi looked lost once more. The man-in-white tilted his head sideways again and then gave a gasp of understanding and nodded sideways.

"Right, it seems I am doing the reverse again." He stood straight up and cleared his throat. "Keyblade Spirits provide power for their wielders, and they each Spirit has a different way of drawing out that power. Since this is my first time being a Spirit, I think I will follow an example I was taught some time ago. So, to start exploring the vestiges of your powers, you must search the depths of your heart for my name."

"That doesn't make any sense..."

The man-in-white nodded vigorously. "Oh it does. If you don't think about it." Kairi sighed loudly. "You have known, always known, for about a decade now.

"But I did not call you here for explaining my wonderful ways, no. I wanted to introduce myself, but there are also... uh... much more pressing matters to attend with."

The Spirit tilted to the left and pointed to behind Kairi. To say the least, she was rather surprise that she didn't notice the long length of chain jutting from her back, extending all the way over the edge of her Station and into the darkness below.

"What the hell is that!" She shrieked in panic. "Why the hell is there a chain stuck in my back!" The chain was very well crafted, made out of some sort of ethereal metal, thin and beautiful looking, coloured black and white and gold and silver.

"That is...how to put this?" The Spirit looked off into space, tapping a finger on his chin. Kairi was tugging on the chain, trying to break it or do...something to it. There was about a foot of slack before it drew taut as a girder. "Oh! Yes. That chain is your fettered self. You are holding yourself back with many things. Some things you can control like your uncertainty, and things out of your control, like your memory loss." The man-in-white stepped forward and picked up a length of chain himself. "You possess one of the greatest powers in the entire universe, but it will never be able to do much for you if you weigh yourself down."

Kairi glared at the man. "Are you saying I should just...let everything go?"

"Not everything. No human can remove all their emotional baggage without seriously damaging their souls. No, you just need to let go of these insecurities you have involving The Master of Destiny." She looked puzzled for a second.

"Do you mean Sora?" She finally said, and the man nodded. She let his words sink in; about letting go, about Sora. She loved Sora with all her heart, no one could deny that fact, but... there were certain things that were expected of her. Not because she was royalty, but because of her father. Of her family on the island. She was the mayor's daughter, and so there was an image that needed to be kept. Erica had done it, now it was her turn. No matter how much she didn't want to, no matter the situation, she had to act as polite and demure and kind and gracious as she could. She didn't want to anymore. Not since Sora first got his Keyblade. Not since he threw away his life to bring her back. In the past year-and-a-half, she had experienced so many things in life, stuff she never thought existed, let alone happen to her. Everything had changed. She had found a strength inside her that she didn't know she had, she had met so many wonderful people, seen many amazing things, and grown closer to Sora...

"I know that look on your face." The Spirit noted, his voice of a more normal tone, much quieter now. "I...loved a woman once, many years ago. And I remember seeing that look on my face and on hers many times. I like to think of it as the look of true-love."

And she wanted more. She wanted more of everything! Go to every world and meet friends on each one. See all the wonders of the universe, travel to the farthest reaches and back home and then to do it all over again another day. And she wanted to grow even closer to Sora. Closer and closer, stay by his side forever, marry him, bear his children, raise them, grow old, and eventually die together. She loved her parents, but she didn't want what they had set out for her. What she wanted...she wanted...

"I just want to be me." She gripped two chain links in her hands, and began to pull in opposite directions. "Whatever that really is."

She pulled again, harder this time, the man-in-white smiling down on her. "Yes. That's it! Become unfettered in this life." She pulled again, and he grew more dramatic and louder, shouting praise to the heavens. "Go. Go! Let the fire of your heart burn eternally! Let your light shine brilliantly and forever more!"

With one final tug, she broke the chain in two.

* * *

Bursting forth from Oathkeeper, came a blinding light, a heavenly aura that blanketed the entire tower in a brilliant white nimbus. Kira's hands loosened, as he staggered pack, hissing and screeching like nothing human, cringing in the presence of his sister's light.

The light slowly subsided, reducing itself to a shining aura covering Kairi and her Keyblade. Kairi was now back on her feet, her clothing repaired, and all her wounds healed up. Kira skulked away in agony, while the others watched Kairi's triumphant revival with a mix of awe and joy.

"I think we know what's happening next." Roxas said to the group. There had been a clear pattern the last two days. All of the existing _Thud._ had gotten new Keyblades, and it looked like it was no Kairi's time.

"I knew she could win." Namine whispered.

"She...looks amazing." Sora was awestruck, more than anyone else. He always took pride in seeing Kairi kick ass on the battlefield. Hell, he found himself becoming more attracted to her the stronger she became. "Just like an angel." _My angel,_ a small, cloistered part of him proudly declared.

"Kira, you asked me who I was. I can tell you now." Her voice was calm and powerful. She swung her glowing Keyblade, aiming it at Kira. "I am Princess Kairi Trinias Ralleone, of the Radiant Garden, the First of Her Name. I was born to King Agrias and Queen Beatrix. I had an older brother named Kross. I am the last living member of the Garden's monarchy, and am beloved on my home world by nearly all... But I am also Kairi Minami, daughter of Aiden and Julia. I have an elder sister named Erica, and a twin sister named Namine. I hail from the township of Salm on the island of Salm from the world of the Destiny Islands. And I'm also just Kairi, myself, no more than that. I'm everything that I am! Not just one side of me defines me!" The blinding aura began to dim down, all of the light focusing around her Keyblade. Several cracks began to spread across the brilliant white Keyblade. "_That's_ who I am Kira! Who the hell do you think I am!"

The light around her Keyblade shattered, revealing that Roxas was indeed right. A new Keyblade had formed from the empowered Oathkeeper. The blade was one of the most colourful, decorative weapons the group had seen so far. The main sword part of the blade was a straight longsword, tapered to a point on both sides, black in the middle and white on either side. The teeth of the blade was a three part ensemble; a large white flower formed the first part, attached directly to the blade. Blooming from the flower was a golden crown, shaped after the crown from Sora's pendant. A golden heart sandwiched the top portion of the blade on either side. At the point where the blade, guard, and hilt united was a large golden rose, not unlike the sigil of her family. Connected to the top of the rose were two large feathers – one red, the other dark purple – that split off into a v-shaped crest. The hilt was straight, pure white, and the guard took two forms. One side of the guard was a large wing, divided into several coloured sections – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, and white. The other half of the guard was a single white angelic wing. Unlike most Keyblades, the guards didn't loop all away around to merge with the bottom of the hilt, instead these took the shape of an upside down U, leaving a small gap between their tips and the hilt. A short keychain made of pink beads dangled from the pommel, and the charm of this Keyblade was a small paopu fruit.

The title and name of her new Keyblade flitted through Kairi's head. _The Blazing Heart of Light. _Fire and light, it felt very right. _Crown of Radiance._

She readied her weapon as Kira charged once again, his fang clashing with her Crown. "You still hold no hope of winning, girl." Kira snarled. Again and again, their blades clashed, as the children or radiance danced around one another. She noticed how much more power was behind the swing of her Crown; Kira's counter-strokes no long rattling the bones in her arm. Regardless, Kira still had and advantage in size and power in a pure brawl, so she couldn't keep this up forever. "You can no more protect yourself with just a sword than you can the Garden by just 'being there'." His laugh was a horrible, hollow mocking thing. "Are you still holding onto that worthless ideal?"

"No." She grit her teeth, but was still getting knocked around by Kira's superior strength.

Kira laughed again. "Then have you abandoned them entirely?"

"I didn't say that either!" _No more lying to yourself,_ she told herself calmly. "I've seen my land with my own eyes, and met the people...and I love them all! I won't let a monster like you hurt them!" Despite the strength of word, Kira shoved her back with a brutal slash. "I think I've been fooling myself into thinking I didn't want to be a Princess, to be Queen and rule the Garden." Despite the heat of battle, despite Kira being a very deadly opponent, she allowed herself a sigh and a moment of pause. "But it was just that, I was fooling myself. I'll take it all. The responsibility, the power – everything! If they will have me, then I will take my rightful place, like father before me, and every other Ralleone before him. Not because I have to either. This is because I _want_ to! I want to help out all those people and make sure they have the best life they possibly can."

Kira twisted his face up in a sour glare. "You sicken me..." He charged again, more brutal slashes following, pressing the power advantage he had. "You have your new weapon, and your new outlook on life, but you're still just a weak, pathetic little girl, who can't even protect herself!"

With a wide, side slash, Kira tore Crowning Radiance away from Kairi, her arms swinging over her head and to her side, leaving her totally open. Kira twisted his wrist around, preparing for a backhand slash aimed at Kairi's neck...

_Lady Kairi. Lady Kairi!_ The man in white's urgent voice rang out in her mind. _I might have something for you!_

_If it can help me beat Kira, then I'll take it!_ She said, just as urgently. She dodge the slash at her neck, just barely, but Kira's attacks were so fast and brutal that she barely had time to set up a guard, and if she did, it would collapse in a single hit.

_You see, every Keyblader Warrior gets tiers of power. You've reached the tier known as 'Resonance'. Resonances come in many forms and are usually temporary but I think with your light – remember how I said it was special, well, yeah – with your light, I think the rules can be bent by-_

_I'm about to die!_ Kairi mentally screeched at her Spirit. _Just tell me what to do!_

_Very well. Focus on your light. Within your heart. Focus on it to a point where you can almost touch it, then...visualize the form you want it to take!_

_I know exactly what I want._ She thought back to her training in January. She had learned a specific way of fighting that had been absent for the duration of the journey. A pink light flashed, coming from within Kairi's heart, seemingly invisible to Kira.

Kira was about to bring his fang down on Kairi's left arm, but it was stopped when it hit Kairi's Resonance, bouncing off it with a loud _clang!_

The power of Keyblade Resonance and Kairi's light took the form of a large circular shield, made of highly polished bright blue metal. Completely flat except for white trimming on the edge, the shield was strapped to her arm by a series of leather buckles. It covered her arm and most of her body when she held it up – reaching around three-and-a-half feet in diameter. The seal of the Royal House was branded on front, three golden roses on a lavender shield, with two swords crossing the shield on a diagonal.

Kira glared at the new shield, madness boiling over in his eyes, howling in rage at the appearance of another new weapon. Every time he seemed to have them beat, the Keyblader's kept on pulling something out and taking him by surprise. His stability crumbled even further, as the Immortal cursed and fumed to the heavens, dropping his sword as a dark energy pulsed around his body. He was frothing at the mouth like a mad dog, his body bulging and twisting underneath his armour.

"Damn...Keyblades...YAARRR!" Kira made a growl that was anything but human, as obsidian spurs began to burst all over his body.

Kairi looked at the thing that used to be her brother and sighed at what he had become. "I'm sorry Kross...It's time to end this." She took her stance, legs at shoulder width, left slightly in front of the right. Her shield out in front and covering her body, and her Keyblade held out at her side, angled away from her. _Sword and shield. Just like training back with Ember._

Kira snarled one last time and threw his left arm forward, unleashing a large shadow shaped like a first. Kairi just held her ground and held her shield out. A reflective sheen covered Kairi's Resonance shield.

"Mirraga!"

The moment the shadow fist made contact with the shield, the magic came into effect. Kairi felt no impact, all of it was transferred right back at Kira. The shadow fist burst apart into nothing, the shockwave following along its path, shattering the armour on Kira's left arm and cutting him up at the same time.

"Radiant Blade!"

The normal blade of her Crown vanished, transforming into a razor-sharp blade made of pure light. She stepped forward to the staggering Kira, and with a single slash, cut right through him like he and his armour were soft cheese, leaving behind a trail of blood gushing from the wound.

With a shuddering sigh, Kira collapsed to the ground.

"I'm sorry Kross..." Tears were streaming down Kairi's face. There was still a part of her that remember Kross, whoever he truly was.

"Don't be..." A weak voice came from the downed Immortal. Instantly, Kairi ran to him, dismissing her Crown and shield, kneeling by Kira...no. This was Kross. His eyes were no longer pools of hatred and pain. They were no the same purple-blue as hers, full of remorse. His body was slowly vanishing into flecks of darkness.

"Kross..." She said with a tearful smile. She took his bloodied left hand into hers. It felt good to feel his warmth, to actually feel her brother.

"You're..." Each breath, every word seemed to agonize Kross more than any attack Kairi had inflicted to him. "The Garden will be lucky to have you... I wish I could see my sister rise so high. Do so well." His legs had completely vanished. His right arm and face were half gone too, yet Kross still smiled at his sister.

"They – mother and father... they would be so proud of you..." And with those dieing words, the Immortal vanished from this plane, dieing as the Prince Kross Ralleone instead of the hate-filled being known as Kira.

Kairi sat alone for a moment, still clutching her blood covered hands together, as if Kross' hands were still there.

"Kairi..." She turned around, to find Sora smiling over her, a hand on her shoulder. She smiled back. _God, how I love him. In fact..._

Kairi stretched her arm up, latching onto Sora's collar before pulling herself upwards, kissing him. Long, deep, wet, and strong. Sora let Kairi have full control, letting her bend him over slightly, letting the warm of her lips, the strength of her writhing tongue that broke into his own mouth, and the weird wetness of her tear-streaked face all wash over him. He never bothered to fight the foreign tongue, letting it cross freely and enjoy the visit. Frenching was still such a weird sensation – for both of them – the other's tongue could be terse and smooth and slippery all at the same time, but it was one of those weird sensations, a wonderful vibration that rocked them to the soul. They finally broke apart after what must have been an uncomfortably long amount of time for the other four, feeling their joint heat slowly ebbing back down.

"Wow..." Sora was breathless to say the least. "I think I like the new Princess Kairi." He said with a teasing smile, causing her to giggle.

"Well, I guess we know who wears the pants in that relationship." Roxas muttered with a sidelong glance.

"Funny thing is, she wear skirts nine out of ten times." Namine added with a small giggle.

Events began to happen rather quickly. When Kira/Kross perished, the barrier he had set up had fallen. Edward and his group suddenly appeared, being greeted by Sora and Kairi. Dayne was rather conflicted at the moment, proud of what Kairi had just did and for excepting her heritage, but rather annoyed of her...emoting all over Sora. Riku chose to diffuse the situation however he could.

"So...Dayne? How did Kairi's clothes repair themselves after she got Crowning Radiance?" He asked, rabidly and nervously.

"Wha?" He looked confused, but still answered. "Her clothes are magic, right? Magic clothes repair themselves if a bit of magic is cycled through them. How do you think I haven't gone through fifty million coats in my lifetime."

"I just figured you had lots of copies." Kalyn added glibly, having stepped in between the two. Her face had a rather flat look on it, but she gave a shy smile when she saw Riku.

"So are we gonna finish this, or what?" Donald announced to the collective group. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Let's do this guys!" Sora declared, pointing to the domed spire before them. "To the final battle!"

And so the group of eleven marched on, across the narrow span, into the tower, up another large spiral staircase, and into the chamber beneath the dome...

Only to find a most shocking sight: Creed on his knees, bleeding all over his body, prone before a triumphant Cassius!

"What the hell happened?"

**To Be Continued**

_Alright, not too much to say on this one again. Pretty happy with how it came out, and I feel like it's a good comeback!_

_Also, this chapter would have been up earlier this morning if the site wasn't derping a lot. Was that just happening to me?_

Keyblader Profile #8

Kairi Ralleone/Minami

**Keyblade:** Crown of Radiance

**Master Element:** Light

**Class:** Holy Knight

_Next Chapter: A battle sixty years in the making! **Kingdom Hearts Genesis of Destiny, Chapter 46: Climactic Battle!**_

* * *

_Please Review_

_Go Canucks, Go!  
_

_SirAngelo  
_


	46. Climactic Battle!

_So, yeah. This is a little later than I wanted it. A little too short for my tastes too. But the shortness works. They are able to beat Cassius so quickly because they've become so much stronger since the first skirmish on the Islands, and there are eleven of them. Next chapter will be the brawl, I promise you that. I'm also planning (and hoping) to finish GOD by the end of June. *Fingers crossed*  
_

_Also, I have decided that I'm going to start a new fan project shortly. It won't be at the level of this, and it will be updated at a more infrequent pace, but it is something I've been toying about in my head for a short while, and it's just something I want to have fun with. It's also going to be a Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy AU fic._

_But, I'm bringing it up because I need the help of you! My loyal Angeloholics! I need some input in order to complete the main heroic characters – the five man (or in this case, girl) band. I need help picking member number five, and you can help me with your suggestions. There are just two pieces criteria for selecting this girl:_

_One: The girl must be from the Kingdom Hearts and/or Final Fantasy franchises and..._

_Two: The following females have been set aside for other rolls and cannot be selected: Kairi, Namine, Larxene, Xion, Aqua, Tifa, Aerith, Quistis, Yuna, Ashe, Lightning, Serah, and Fang._

_Otherwise, have fun and please, all suggestions are welcomed!_

_Also, I picked up Mortal Kombat earlier today. I'm looking forward to the nostalgia trip, riding on a river of blood and gore. Test your might!_

_Also, I imagine you are wanting a hint for this new project. Well...I can give you one. To sum it up in two words:_

_Magical Girl._

Chapter 46: Climactic Battle!

"I'm glad you could all finally arrive," Cassius began, eyeing the eleven beings intruding in his sanctum. He began to walk forward, leaving the prone and bloodied Creed behind, not sparing his struggling subordinate a second glance. Weapons were drawn and combat stances were assumed, stopping Cassius.

"What the hell did you do to Creed?" Dayne demanded of his former leader.

"Oh?" Cassius's cloaked head tilted backwards. "Are you feeling remorse?"

Dayne scoffed in a derogatory manner. "Hardly. You're all scum, but he's probably the most tolerable of you lot."

"Gee, thanks. That might be compliment of the year." Creed groaned sarcastically. He was struggling to get to his feet, resting on his knuckles, as rivers of blood slowly trickled down his long face.

"Shut up!" Dayne snapped back. "You're dieing! You're not allowed to make smart-alack comments!" Creed just rolled his eyes.

"If you are all done." Cassius boomed. He turned positioned his arms, each wielding a bloodied katana, into a right angle with his body. "I have some matters to attend to."

"You mean you're generic, overly-complicated take over the world scheme?" Roxas said with a wry little smirk. Cassius tilted his head again, relaying his smug confidence despite – or in spite – of Roxas's taunt.

"But of course."

With that, Cassius charged forward, moving like a white blur. Sora charged to meet with the super-speeding Immortal, blocking his first two strokes with his Keyblade. After the second block, Cassius began to dart around again, moving so fast that a regular human would not be able to see him. And even then, Sora could only barely keep up with his enemy's movements. He appeared to the left, only vanish the moment Sora turned to face. The feint worked as Cassius was now hanging in the air above Sora, ready to bring his blades down. A sudden burst of gold came from behind Cassius, as Riku fired a Dawn attack, throwing the Immortal away from the heroic party.

Cassius wheeled away after the shot, landing perfectly on his feet, only to be met by Creed, now up again, striking at his ribs with a powerful roundhouse kick. An audible _crack_ resonated through the large chamber, as Cassius was pushed aside with the force of the blow. "Don't forget about me, oh great leader!" Creed taunted. "I'm still in this!" He followed the boast with another charge, this time ending the dash with an uppercut, sending Cassius airborne, his hood flying away to reveal his face.

Creed jumped after his enemy, who was flying higher and higher from the force of the attack. Creed soared past Cassius, and then proceeded to roll through the air, crashing down on Cassius like a spinning wheel, raining blow after blow – elbows, knees, kicks, punches, headbutts, chops, and palm thrusts – all the while turning like a human tornado. The flurry of blows had the proper effect, shooting Cassius back down to the floor and blowing his cloak off his body.

The tall, usually slothful Immortal touched down some distance away, waiting tensely for Cassius the Earth to rise up again. Never turning away from his enemy, Cassius barked back to the Keyblader's "Ya see! That's how ya do it, ya bunch of slackers!"

_Did he just call us slackers?_ Kairi asked herself. Not used to communing with a Keyblade Spirit, she was surprised when the Man-In-White's voice sounded out in her head.

_That just might be the most triumphant example for hypocritical humour there is!_ He replied with his normal tone of bouncy, airy bliss.

The Immortal's treacherous leader eventually did rise back up, his true body exposed now with his cloak blown off. His hair was the same silver-grey tone as the other Cassius bodies, with the same bizarre electric blue circuitry lining running through the hair and on his skin, flaring brighter occasionally. His hair was styled into various thick braids, with thin, angular sideburns framing his menacing face. His chest was bare, the only article of clothing remaining on him being a pair of baggy pants, with various pieces of armour strapped to his body. Heavily armoured boots and shin plates, pauldrons resting on his shoulders, and over-sized spaulders that shot a good three inches over his shoulders, coming to a point at the top. All the armour was made of the same pearly-coloured metal, and the shimmering blue-green lights reflecting off the armour as Cassius moved about.

"Back for more, eh?" Once again, Creed charged his newly-made adversary, flying at him with punches and sweeps, but Cassius blocked every single strike with his blades, using the edged portion to cause more and more shallow wounds to appear along the sloth's arms.

Eventually, Creed fell back momentarily, before leaping forward with another roundhouse kick to the head. Cassius couldn't dodge the blow, but let his body flow with the momentum of the attack, causing him to slip underneath the leg, and throwing Creed off-balance as he was now one one leg, with all of his weight pointing in one direction. He stumbled, falling down to all fours, before popping right back up to his feet...

...Just as Cassius thrust forward with his left katana! The blade pierce Creed clean through, jutting out the other end just below Creed's sternum. The blade was withdrawn as quickly as it entered, and Cassius continued to showcase his amazing speed a reflexes, tossing Creed into the air lightly with the blunt end of his katana, before spinning like Creed did not too long ago, a human cyclone of razor sharp steel. Creed was juggled higher into the air briefly, before Cassius grew bored of the sport, backing up and letting a bloodied, mangled Creed fall to the ground in a heap.

The tall, lazy Immortal was once again struggling to get back to his feet, bleeding like a stuck pig. "Not gonna quit..." He breathed, ragged and shallow. "Not gonna give up, and slink away..."

He succeeded getting to his knees, at which Cassius simply smirked at. In a silvery blur, the sword-wielding Immortal darted forward to his kneeling foe. He then jabbed his katana down into the ground, the blade standing erect in the stone, before jabbing a stiffened hand into Creed's chest. There was no blood, but there was a faint grown from Creed, followed by a rush of darkness, and a brief faint spark of light. Creed was dead and gone, his body dissipated from having his heart removed, and said heart was now gripped in Cassius's free hand.

"Go now, my last Immortal." He made a swaying motion with the arm, releasing the heart and sending it towards open pit in the back of the chamber. "Become one with Zirconiade, and usher forth my utopia!" The heart fluttered gently through the air, ending up just above the open maw of the altar. A sudden blinding burst of green, blue, and orange lights emanated from the pit, and the Keyblader's could very briefly see the jaws of a dragon rise up and seize the heart for its own. Or, at least they _think_ they saw the jaws. Either way, Creed's heart was taken, and now it was apart of the mass that would form a new body for Zirconiade.

And now, only one enemy Immortal remained.

Cassius turned about to face the Keyblader's and their allies, seeing them glare daggers at him. Except for Riku, who's eyes were alight with intense thought, looking back and forth between Cassius and the altar.

"So, that's what's going on here..." He muttered grimly to himself. Everyone looked at him for an answer, which he quickly gave. "He's doesn't have enough hearts to complete his plan, so he's using the Immortals to finish up and summon Zirconiade as quickly as possible."

"What!" Sora roared. His expression was shared by the others. One of reprehension and loathing, with a little shock that even the enemy would sink this low. "Why you despicable-"

The Immortal cut him off. "I do not need the commentary of a weakling."

"I'm not weak!" Sora countered.

"Words are wind. Show me solid proof."

"I've defeated plenty of your cronies. We all have!"

"Expendable pawns." Cassius sneered. "The lot of them, to the very last."

Surprisingly, that cause Sora to laugh a little bit. A small mocking chuckle piercing through a smirk. "You know, when you go and say stuff like that, it makes me realize that I am right about being strong." Sora stepped forward, Destiny Heart in hand. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. A thousand times, over-and-over, because it's true: My friends are my strength, just as I'm there's!" He stretched his arms out, motioning to his friends. "That's why we've been able to do all the amazing and impossible things. I'm lucky to have every single one of them supporting me every step of the way." He hefted his Keyblade in a single hand, and levelled it at his foe. "And that's why I will always be stronger than a traitorous monster like you!"

"Oh boy..." Kalyn muttered with a sardonic edge to her voice. "How long has been waiting to bust that little speech out?"

"Actually, he's said something along those lines before." Riku returned, knowing Sora better than almost anyone. He also knew Sora's level of conviction, faith, and determination and how that transitioned into battle. "And these little speeches always proceed an severe ass-kicking."

"Really?" Kalyn asked. She, Ed, and Al – who all weren't savvy with how Sora worked – looked rather dubious at Riku's proclamation. Riku gave them a look that told them to just watch.

"Any idea about how to approach this, Dayne?" Sora looked back to the more experienced warrior, knowing his own relationship with the enemy.

"Well..." Dayne scratched his chin in thought. "I don't know what the Earth can do. Besides that Perfect Soul ability, which seems to be ubiquitous to all of his forms. He has an infinite supply of energy, so the longer the battle goes, the more it swings in his favour. So the plan is... hit hard, hit fast, and hit often!"

"So... Simple and stupid?" Roxas questioned with a grin.

"I like it!" Sora declared with a manic disposition. "Alright, let's go!" Sora chucked his Keyblade forward, now using his free hands to seize Donald and Goofy by the wrists, dragging them forward with him. Without hesitation or thought for their own well-being due to facing a super-powered megalomaniac. The all linked arms, with Goofy in the middle, and Donald and Goofy at either size, with Goofy spinning about as if performing his typical Goofy Tornado attack. Mid-spin, Sora snatched Destiny Heart out of the air, and he and Donald's weapons began to spew out flames. Goofy's spinning – which dragged Donald and Sora along in the tornado move with him – gradually built up in speed, going faster and faster, the magical flames twisting and wrapping around the spinning three man ensemble, forming a monstrously large fiery wheel!

Cassius was got off-guard by the brazen nature of the attack that he ended up getting slammed clear across the room by the flaming wheel. He bounded right back into the fight, slamming into the magic combination attack, striking against it with both his swords, letting the flames lick up and down his body, while the spinning was eventually ground down to a halt, the flames dispersing and Sora, Goofy, and Donald thrown back in free-fall, closely together, and in a loose heap in the air.

Cassius looked ready for another charge through the air, but Donald raised his staff into the air before he could act. "Magnet!" He squawked, his spell taking the form of a pulsating black and yellow orb hanging above his head. Cassius was suddenly yanked through the air, unable to control himself, as he was pulled towards the magnetic orb.

"Goofy!" Sora called to his longtime ally. The Royal Knight of Disney held up his shield, letting Sora vault off of it with a single step. "Chains of Destiny!" Sora began to mimic Goofy, spinning around with fierce velocity, holding his Keyblade with both hands. Golden chains began to snake all over his body and the surrounding area. The spinning Keyblader zoomed through the air to Cassius, barely making contact with Cassius, but the chains twirling about Sora struck Cassius, biting into his flesh and armour like a buzz saw.

Cassius grunted in pain as he was thrown to the floor; Sora, Donald, and Goofy landed rather gracefully together, proud of their apparent victory. Cassius proved them dead wrong by getting up with amazing speed, and darted forward again. The heroes turned around just in time to avoid a sweeping katana slash, only to try and weather another assault from the Immortal leader. With the blunt edge of his katana, Cassius began to smack Donald and Goofy around like they were nothing to him, eventually kicking them away and leaving Sora alone with him.

Both katanas were brought down in a single chop, which Sora blocked easily. Cassius would not be deterred, as he wheeled his swords around after the deflection. The right blade shot forward like a snake with a single thrust, then sweeping downwards with an angular slash, which was followed up by Cassius pivoting his entire body for a backhanded slash with his left sword. Sora dodge the stab and sweep, and barely brought Destiny Heart up in time to black the backhand, which was such a powerful slash that it tossed Sora a few feet to the side, twisting and stumbling over his own feet. A crescent slash to the midsection, multiple strokes in the shape of a even-armed cross, twisting around to his left side to deliver a rain of stabs. Swords held in an x-shape, unleashed in a pincer cut, and then the two swords held out, parallel with arms and shoulders, swinging back together in a scissors like attack.

All of these attacks assailed Sora in a constant storm of steel, the brunet Keyblade barely able to dodge each attack, with the most deft blow coming close to snipping off the tips of his spikes. He seemed in over his head for a moment, until a silvery-blue blur struck at Cassius's spaulder, throwing him away from Sora and spreading a film of ice across the armour.

Thirteenth Remnant returned to Roxas's waiting hand, his Freeze Raid attack successful in diverting the attention of Cassius. "Hey!" He called out, shooting forth with both his Keyblades outstretched. "Why don't you pick on someone with as many swords as you?" Thirteenth Remnant and Bond of Flames began to ring off the katanas.

"I think not." The Immortal said dryly. The clashing weapons became tangled up by the will of Cassius, who then forced all of his strength to the left, jerking Roxas in the same direction, and hurling him to the floor. "But there are some people that need to be taught a lesson!" He turned his attention back to Sora, who had now regrouped with Donald and Goofy.

"Bring it, Cassius!" Sora called back, showing his fangs to the multi-bodied foe. He had a debt to settle with him either way. He raised Destiny Heart above his head, "Anyways, there's something I want to try out anyways." A white aurora began to form around the trio. "Let's show him the true strength of our bonds!"

With a brilliant flash, Donald and Goofy vanished into globes of energy, flowing into Sora's body, engaging the full power of the Drive. He only had a brief time to test out Final Form within the World That Never Was, first using against Saix, and the again during the fight with the armoured form of Xemnas. This transformation had been a long-time coming, in Sora's mind.

His clothes changed from black to silver, with a flowing wing-like design appearing on the cuffs of his shorts. His feet lifted off the ground, his entire body hovering only a few inches off the surface. His air and clothing also began to flow and flutter, as if being pushed up by a current of gentle wind. Destiny Heart left his grip and began to float near the right side his body, joined by Kingdom Key hovering by his left.

"Okay, let's kick this into overdrive!" Sora crossed his arms, his Keyblades following the motion, floating in front of him and spinning around rapidly. A silvery-white aura began to form around Sora and the two mythical weapons. "This is for Rain! Starlight Breaker!"

The aura erupted into dozens of streaks of light all arcing upwards into the air, before curving around and descending upon Cassius. The Immortal went wide-eyed as he began to rapidly back step away from the barrage of magical light. He couldn't move quick enough though, as one of the blasts struck him in the chest, causing him to lose his footing and fall. Now, he was prey to all the remaining shots, which rained down on him in a thunderous blast, creating a brilliant flash of light.

Cassius staggered backwards, now covered in burns from the Starlight Breaker barrage, but Sora was not going to stop. "Wings of Paradise!" Sora shot forth, hovering across the ground all the while, arms outstretched and Keyblades mimicking their master. Eight rays of light shot off the Keyblade's evenly spread out like a magnificent pair of wings, indicative of the name of the attack. Sora darted across the battlefield, sideswiping Cassius the Earth with the Kingdom Key, all eight ray-like blades cutting through Cassius, leaving a great wound across his body, like he had been mauled by some kind of monstrous beast!

Sora skidded to a stop behind the wounded Cassius, who gnashed in teeth in pain and frustration. "This is the end Cassius. You've caused far too much trouble, and you've taken far too much from all of us. I won't allow you allow to hurt a person I love. Or anyone else for that matter!" Sora glared down the Immortal, who was back in his fighting stance, trying to remain smug and superior. "I swear that no one will ever be hurt – or die – again! No matter who I have to fight, I will save those I love!" He would probably regret that for the rest of his life. That he never had the chance to apologize to Rain for treating her so coldly. Before she died. Dayne at least got some closure with her, thought it made more sense that he would. He wasn't going a self-destructive streak because of this guilt, but it still ate at him every single night.

"You're naivety is laughable!" Cassius barked in derision. "You think you can protect everything? With the monsters steeped in darkness that await you if you can defeat me!" A short burst of laughter followed the question.

"Do you mean those new Nobodies?" Sora called back. He was not in the mood to be treated like the guileless, clueless boy. "I don't care about them. We dismantled one group of Nobodies, we can do it again!"

"You know nothing..." Cassius snarled. "Those Zodiacs are the least of your problems. Anarados will tear you apart like you were nothing!"

Sora simply stared at the bleeding Immortal, not phased by what he had to say. "You talk too much." Holding out the levitating Destiny Heart, the Keyblade began to spin about, building it's speed while a magical aura of red light shone about it. Eventually, all that could be seen was a circular burning red blur. "Red Sky Revolver!" Sora launched forth, brandishing his spinning Keyblade. Cassius brought up his katanas to block, but the whirling weapon tore through the steel, shattering them into tens of shards. Sora brought the weapon around again, uppercutting Cassius into the air, and drawing another terrible wound across the Immortal's body.

Cassius was thrown upward by the force of the attack, floating amongst his own blood and the shards of his katana, seemingly defeated at long last. "You're resolve is strong..." Cassius grunted down to Sora. A grin then flashed across his face. "I pray it's strong enough!" Cassius twisted in the air, grabbing a shard of his katana, before flying downwards, catching Sora by surprised and readying to plunge the broken sword into the Keyblader's chest.

"Hell's Butterfly!"

The familiar red and black energy wave rocketed through the air, crashing into Cassius and launching him halfway across the room, his body painfully crashing into the ground.

A still shocked Sora looked over at Dayne, holding his own smoking Keyblade at the end of his stroke. "Dayne..."

"This is your story, hero!" Dayne told the young man, his voice telling everyone that he truly meant it when he called Sora 'hero'. "It ends _when_ you want it, and _how_ you want it!"

Sora nodded, recovering from his stunned state. "Then it ends now!" He held out both his floating Keyblades, and they transformed themselves in a plume of energy, into large, intricately designed skeleton keys, made of purple, red, and gold energy.

"Ars..."

The two energy keys began to revolve, shining even brighter – which was rather hard, because they were constructed purely of energy.

"CLAVIS..."

Sora raised the Keyblades above his head, the two of them rotating even quicker and now they were revolving around one another, making them seem like they had melded into one, single, gigantic key. Sora was holding up with his right arm, his index finger raised.

"**EXTREMUS!"**

Sora flew through the air, right at Cassius, his gigantic, spinning energy Key leading the way. A trail of energy followed him, much like the tail on a comet. The tip of the Keyblade rammed right into the helpless Cassius, still recovering from the Hell's Butterfly, drilling into the body of the Immortal as he roared in pain, unable to move away from the blow.

All of the energy that formed the massive Ars Clavis Extremus burst forward in a brilliant plume, erupting outward and pushing Cassius backwards even more. The Immortal was sent flying into the air, straight across the room at an insane velocity, before crashing into the back wall, right above the open pit of the altar. A large hole had been torn into his chest from the drilling strike, blood gushing out in a terrible torrent. Cassius made no noise – not a grunt or a cry or a final taunt – he simply gave one last smug grin, before he detached from the wall, falling face down into the open pit, vanishing from sight.

Sora remained in Final Form, though he did dismiss his Keyblades, floating and watching the pit. The others joined him in painful silence.

"So... Is that it?" Kalyn was the one who broke the silence, asking the question with a rather disappointed tone. "I mean, after all the hype you guys laid on the Immortals, we finally face off against their big bad boss and...that's all we get? Pineapple head here rambling off a few speeches and then whooping butt like it was as easy as breathing?"

"And what exactly were you expecting?" Kairi asked the Dalmascan girl. She shrugged rather lazily.

"Dunno. But... Just something more final. Climactic! Am I right?"

"I hate to say it, but I have to agree with her." Ed said. "Something seems, well, off."

"Oh...they're going to jinx it." Namine said ruefully.

"She's right, we should be happy it was this easy." Dayne added. "Now let's go home and figure out what's the next step."

"Next step?" Roxas questioned.

"Zirconiade." Dayne pointed to the open pit. "Aqua and Terra probably are gonna have to do something with it, so-"

A great roar resounded from the pit, like some kind of fell monster was waking at long last. The entire altar room began to shake in time with the noise of the roar, as an orange light began to throb from deep beneath the pit, pulsing every time the roar's pitch warbled.

"You two just had to say it..." Roxas growled at Ed and Kalyn.

The source of the light rose out from the pit, a giant orb of orange light, still pulsing. The roar finally died down, as the light orb floated away from the pit to the staircase below the altar.

"I AM ASCENDANT!" Cassius's voice echoed from the orb.

"No way..." Sora gasped. The orb was starting to slowly peel away, like a cocoon.

"Bastard's like a bloody cockroach!" Dayne swore in extreme disdain, readying Butterfly Rain for another round.

The contents of the light were revealed: A ten-foot tall humanoid, skin smooth and featureless, and apparently made of a dark blue stone. An orange orb was jammed into its chest, and an unholy halo surrounded what was presumably Cassius. "I thank you all for this gift. True, I was not strong enough to defeat all eleven of you, and Zirconiade was nowhere near completion, but this... This! HA! I have merged with Zirconiade itself, and all the hearts we so diligently collected! I have evolved even beyond an Immortal!"

The face of the blue-stone being cracked open, revealing it was indeed Cassius. His head was now place atop the gigantic new body, unchanged except for his eyes. Bright green lights shone from the eyes, blanketing and covering all features of the eyes.

"I am the Ascended! Cassius the Cosmos!"

As if to emphasize his christening, another burst of light shot out from the altar's pit. A volcano of blue and green light blasted skyward. Flying out from the eruption came a weird cluster of metallic parts, which was heading towards Cassius, high above him.

The metallic thing suddenly began to shift and change as soon as it came above Cassius. The head of a dragon lifted up, and two curved pieces of metal folded out, resting at the back of the device. A series of triangular blades hung from each of the curves, making them look like wings. Two more dragon heads turned out from the core, resting at either side of the contraption, before the entire thing descended down, attaching to the transformed Cassius and fusing with him.

Cassius looked as if he was wearing a large, ornate suit of mechanical armour. A form-fitting breastplate presented itself to the world, the orb in his chest now trapped in the maws of another dragon. A semi-circular faceplate devoid of eye holes or any kind of visor covered the upper half of Cassius's face, the symbol for infinite across the plate. The two dragons on the side of the device attached to Cassius's arms, their jaws opening and six-foot long energy swords coming to life from the mouths of the beasts. The curved pieces of metals seemed to actually be wings, and the final dragon rose above Cassius's head, in line with his spine.

Finally, domed roof, floors, and walls of the slowly lost their texture and appearance, replaced by a great black void, dotted with nebulae, stars, suns, moons, and countless other heavenly bodies, given the appearance that Cassius the Cosmos planned to fight them in the domain that was his namesake...

* * *

"Aqua, what's happening?"

Some of the monitors and devices within _The Ark_ had come to life with an annoying assault of flashing lights and noises. Terra found it all rather off-putting, but he imagined that something was up. And it probably wasn't a boon to their side.

"Still haven't joined the modern age, bro?" Aqua teased back. Terra scowled. He was rather technophobic; the most he was willing to use was a Gummi Ship. Aqua was busy trying to figure out what anomaly had caused this sudden surge of life in the machines, with her and Mickey furiously working at the console, tapping away at various keys at a million miles a minute.

"I think I found something!" Mickey announced a few minutes later. Aqua and Terra zoomed over and looked over Mickey's shoulders. Aqua gasped as she read off the info, but Terra just furrowed his brow.

"Translation, please?"

"Well, pretty much a huge energy source has appeared and it has punched a hole in the dimensional barriers between the Severed Realm and the Realm of Light." Mickey explained hastily.

Terra still looked lost. "And this means...?"

"It means," Aqua said, rather annoyed by her brother's lack of understanding of even the simplest technobabble. "That rifts are opening up over worlds in the Realm of Light. Rifts that connect to this Realm. And I imagine that the energy is probably responding to the hearts of our Keybladers, meaning the rifts are opening over worlds that are close to their hearts. Important to them. So – Wait!" Aqua stopped herself, fixated on a specific piece of data. "That signature...the formation of the spike!" She tapped on the screen on what looked to Terra to be a rather useless piece of graphic.

"Yes?" Mickey and Aqua shared worried looks, making Terra even more frustrated. "Please help the computer illiterate guy!"

Mickey turned back to him. "Basically, not only do these portals allow instantaneous travel, they aren't invisible, they will allow people outside of this Realm to view the events in this Realm, _and_ they are creating a gravity wave. Like a black hole, the Severed Realm is being drawn to these rifts."

Aqua continued on from there. "Which means that is this fight goes on for too long, the Severed Realm will be ripped apart, and collide with these worlds, causing...a catastrophe, to put it lightly." She then turned back to the screen, eyes moving back and forth at an impossible speed. "And those worlds are..." A few more seconds of reading and she had the grim answers.

"Twilight Town...Radiant Garden...The World That Never Was...and the Destiny Islands..."

**To Be Continued**

_You didn't think I would have the final boss fight, and NOT go One-Winged Angel, did you?_

_Also, the Ars Clavis/Ars Clavis Extremus is more or less the Giga Drill Break with a Keyblade._

_Now, if you excuse me, I have some Fatalities to deliver. Excellent!_

**Chapter Preview**

_They have survived the fires of hell, climbed the heights of the heavens, and rent the earth asunder. But now, what challenge awaits them? **Next Chapter!** A battle royale! Spectators welcomed! **Genesis of Destiny, Chapter 47: Zirconiade Rising!**_

* * *

_Please Review_

_SirAngelo_

_Go Canucks, Go!  
_


	47. Zirconiade Rising

_Not much to say this time everyone. Just one note: the next update of Genesis of Destiny will be the last. I will be uploading chapters 48, 49, and 50 ON THE SAME DAY. This is mostly due to 49 being a credits page and 50 being an epilogue, so I didn't think it would be fair to have you wait for those._

_Also... CANUCKS ARE IN THE STANLEY CUP FINALS! OH DEAR GOD, YES! THEY'RE UP 2-0 ON BOSTON? WHOOOO! SYMBOLISM! OMGWTFBBQ! GENIUS!_

_..._

_I'll calm down..._

Chapter 47: Zirconiade Rising

"Eighteen hours..."

"I know. I know! I was there for every minute, too." Allister replied in a very aggravated and weary tone. "Just stop reminding me, Clyde."

To say that the two Radiant Guardians where exhausted was an understatement to say the least. It was close to six-thirty in the evening in the Radiant Garden, another clear, warm July day was coming to an end, though the sun was still very prominent in the sky, but Clyde and Allister were ready to call it quits for the day and pass out for the next twelve hours or so. The previous day had been similar to a normal day for the two, working for about eleven-twelve hours before getting off their shift for the evening. But they only would get about two hours worth of sleep before they were called in at around midnight. There was a rather large contingent of Heartless roaming in rooms in the castle that were in need of refurbishing and repair, and that was just the beginning of their day. Between midnight and just about twenty minutes ago, the two spent nearly all of their time running around the city, dealing with a sudden surge of Heartless one minute, organizing workmen at the castle the next, fighting more Heartless, helping the workmen clear the castle, fighting Heartless, a quick lunch, more Heartless, a quick healing from Aerith, more Heartless...

After all of that, the two – being some of the only active members of the meagre Radiant Guardian forces – were tired, hungry, sore, pretty much dead on their feet. Clyde's constant reminding of the marathon wasn't helping either.

"B-but! It was eighteen hours!" Clyde's chili-peppers ears were much like a mood ring for him, with them currently resting flat so they made a right angle with his head. For the life of him, Allister still didn't know how those ears worked... The green-haired man sighed, and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small metal tin and a lighter.

"Still?" Al questioned with a raised eyebrow. Clyde ignored him as he pulled out a long, thin cigarette from the tin, popping it in his mouth. It almost looked like a miniature cigar.

"We all have our vices." He began to spark up the lighter trying to draw a flame.

"But you also drink, gamble, and leer at girls like a man possessed!" Clyde made no comeback, instead taking a drag on the now-lit cigarette, and letting out a satisfying puff of smoke. "I thought you were gonna quit anyways? Or at least look into buying one of those electronic cigarettes..."

Clyde snatched the item in question out of his mouth for a moment, flashing the tin it came from at his partner. "You see this? You see what brand they are?" Balamb Whites. They were Clyde's brand, and he had been smoking them for sometime, though only about two or three a month. "These Whites come ten to a tin for ninety gil!" He rattled the tin about. "I still have three more of them to smoke. And another pack in my dresser. I will probably look into getting an electronic one – probably an eGo-T – but only when I've smoked every last gram of tobacco and got every last cen out of them!" He quickly pocketed the lighter and tin.

"Okay, okay! Take it easy." The Al-Bhed said with an quick glance at his friend. "It was a long hard day, but it's over. So let's just go home and sleep it off."

"I'm hungry though!"

"Well, I'm not cooking, I can tell you that much."

"Well, I expected that much." Clyde rubbed his sore eyes, and then said, "Why don't we go to the bar, grab a drink, a bite to eat, y'know, wind down after a hard day's work? Then, we can go home and sleep like we're dead to the world."

"I guess." The two began to turn a corner down the street, now in the Castle Town proper. "Though I don't think we should be drinking after – oh!" As the made the turn, Al accidentally collided with a teenaged girl with blonde hair and green eyes, with the spiralled irises telling of an Al-Bhed. "Oh sorry Miss...uh...Rikku, is it?"

"Yep!" The spunky teen replied, being accompanied this evening by (who else) Paine and Yuna. She then got a good look at the two. "Hey, aren't you those Guardian guys we saw running all over today?"

"That would be us." Clyde replied flatly, taking another drag from his White.

Yuna looked a little uncomfortable at Clyde's vice. "Um...do you really think..."

"Hey, don't go cramming your fascist ideals down my throat!" He cut her off with the angry remark. Yuna looked rather hurt and lost.

"E-excuse me?"

"Please ignore him, Lady Yuna," Al broke in, "He gets rather testy when anyone criticizes his smoking. Best to ignore him."

"I'm sorry, what did you call me?" Yuna asked, after hearing him say 'Lady Yuna'. "Where did you hear that?"

"Any Al-Bhed worth his salt knows of the Saviour of Spira."

The brunette Gullwing blushed. "That was...a long time ago." Allister nodded silently and turned back to the other two girls. A rather annoyed and exhausted Clyde was trying to do the opposite, ignoring them while enjoying his cigarette.

"So, what are you three lovely ladies up to, tonight?" Allister asked them, with all the pomp, drama, and chivalry he normally spoke with.

"It's my birthday today, so we're all going to celebrate!" Rikku declared happily. The two Guardians offered their "Happy Birthday" wishes (Clyde more muttering his). "Hey! Do you two want to join us?"

"You really want to have dinner with these two?" Paine questioned sarcastically. Rikku huffed at the older women.

"Well I don't know about you, but I would prefer to know more people in this town, other than you two and Lulu!" Paine still looked skeptically at the Guardians.

Clyde began to answer, speaking through clenched teeth and his cigarette. "Well, sorry to rain on your parade, blondie, but-"

"We'd love to get to know you three!" Allister exclaimed, finishing for his friend. Clyde shot him a look and then muttered a curse to himself, knowing full well what his friend was doing. "Where are you all eating?"

"I think she decided on the Seventh Heaven?" Yuna answered, and Rikku nodded at her cousin.

"Wonderful!" Allister sidled over to the two cousins, putting an arm over each of them. "We happen to now the owner, as it were. You ready Clyde?"

"I think not." Clyde said flatly. He pointed his cigarette at Rikku, who gave it the same look Yuna had. "How old are you, missy?"

"Eighteen. And don't call me 'missy'!

"Just watch me." Clyde paid her no real mind and turned back to his friend. "She's underage, and I need, NEED a stiff drink in me."

"You can still get something to drink at the Heaven." Allister was in no mood to deal with a sleep-deprived, hungry Clyde. In this state, he went from overly cheery and eccentric to overly grouchy...and eccentric.

"Screw that! I wanna go to Alchemy Monday's and play darts with the boys." By the same token, Clyde was not in a mood to deal with Allister, who seemed to be falling into his old habits. He probably thought he stood a chance in courting Rikku or Yuna. Knowing him, he'd probably try for Paine, too. "And I can't do that with the teenybopper brigade in tow!"

"'Teenybopper'?" Paine repeated in an annoyed tone.

"You are in no state to be flinging sharp metal objects. Especially if you're going to drink." Al countered.

"Yeah. You're being unreasonable!" Rikku piped in. Clyde growled at her.

"No one asked for you opinion."

Allister turned to Rikku. "Rikku, I'd like to hear your opinion on the matter."

With a mischievous grin, Rikku repeated herself. "You're being unreasonable!"

Clyde growled even louder this time. "Butt. Out!" He pronounced each word with great tension, before taking a long drag on his White, leaning over, and puffing the smoke directly into Rikku's face out through his nostrils. As the Al-Bhed girl coughed and waved the smoke away, Clyde smiled triumphantly...

Until Rikku plucked the half-smoked White out of his mouth, threw it to the ground, and stomped it out.

The smile fell right off of Clyde's face, the Guardian looking as though his world was about to come to an end. He slumped over, his mouth twitched, as if trying to feel for it's missing oral fixation. The green-haired man's eyes grew narrow, as he was about to snap.

"Why you little!" Both came forward, forehead's clashing together as they glared daggers at one another. "Do you have any idea what you just did!"

"Yep!" Rikku was still as emphatic and energetic as ever, being more sarcastic than angry. "I taught you a lesson about being nice to girls, you big meanie! And stopped your nasty little habit. You're welcome!" Apparently, she had been taking sarcasm lessons from Paine.

"Oh my..." Yuna gasped. Rikku and Clyde didn't hear her, but she wasn't reacting to them anyways.

"Those Whites are nine gil to a cigarette!"

"Maybe you should quit. You'll have more money in your pocket!"

"I don't even smoke that often!" Clyde countered. He was unaware that Yuna, Allister, and Paine were all not looking at them, but rather staring at something in the sky. "Only like once a week. If even that!"

"Um...guys?" Allister tried to get their attention.

"Not now, Al!" Clyde shot him down without even looking at him. "I'm trying to teach this squirt a lesson!"

"Squirt! You're like, four-years-older than me!"

"I'm still a legal adult, and you're still a legal child!"

"You have the mentality of a child!"

"Wow, I didn't know a bimbo like you could even pronounce 'mentality' right."

"Rikku, you should really look up at-"

"Yunie, this is important! I'll be with you in a minute."

"Oh for the love of the Light!" An exasperrated Paine declared. If she didn't do anything they would be arguing forever. With some protesting and a struggle, she seized the two by their hair, dragged them apart and forced them to look skyward.

"Oh...so this is what you were going on about..." Rikku said in a very quiet voice.

Clyde took a very different approach in his reaction. "What the hell is that thing!"

"Whatever it is, it can't be good..." Yuna replied, herself quieted by the sight of the great rift that had torn itself open upon the sky. The shimmering portal that was splayed across the late evening sky bore it's contents to the Radiant Garden at large: Sora, Kairi, Dayne, and what were assumed to be their other allies, fighting against a large being, decked out in intricate metallic armour with a very distinct dragon theme to it. The horrifying part (other than the mysterious portal appearing in the sky) was that the Keyblader's were clearly losing.

"Who are the other guys?" Clyde asked. Dayne was currently the only one engaging the being – all present assumed it was Cassius, the Immortal's leader. Dayne's sword (which now looked strangely like a Keyblade if you asked Clyde or Allister...) locked up with a giant beam sword wielded by Cassius, getting pushed back with every collision.

"The blonds are Roxas and Namine." Allister pointed out. "The silver-haired guy is Riku. I don't have the foggiest who the others are." With a massive chop, Dayne was sent flying into the air. The beam blade receded back into some sort of dragon head-like appendage that was attached to Cassius's arm. A barrage of lasers were fired from the open maw in its place.

"How do you know that?" Riku questioned. Dayne deflected the shots, but Cassius came flying forth, swinging the dragon shaped gauntlet downwards, and throwing Dayne hard into the floor.

"Leon told me." Struggling back up, Dayne swung his sword again, this time only biting into the armour that Cassius wore. The oversized Immortal shrugged the blow off, summoning his laser blades again, and swinging wildly. With the size of the wielder and the swords themselves, he didn't really need any skill or finesse to keep Dayne off-balance.

"And how did Leon here?"

"Some chick told him. I think he said her name was 'Terra'." The swords crisscrossed over Dayne's chest, drawing a spray of blood, stunning the reformed Immortal in pain.

"What do you think all this means?" Yuna asked rather frightfully. Seeing the Keybladers be defeated like this was extremely disheartening, and the sight of this portal didn't seem to bode well at all. She had experienced enough hardship, sorrow, and war in her lifetime. She didn't want to go through it again.

"Dunno." Clyde shrugged. His exhaustion had been replaced by dread, and having a drink and a smoke did not seem such an important priority anymore. "But... Giant rift in the dimensional fabric of space? If anime and cheap sci-fi movies have taught me anything, not good." Cassius shot high into the air, unleashing a barrage of energy beams upon the stunned Dayne.

After a moment of tense, dreadful silence, Paine, of all people, spoke up. "They'll win." Her voice was steady, full of confidence. The kind that no one could ever doubt was sincere.

"What makes you say that?" Allister returned. He couldn't doubt her tone, but the situation before them seemed rather dire.

"I have faith in them." Paine replied coolly, even as Cassius landed, pinning a supine Dayne under his truck tire-sized foot.

"I hope you're right, Paine..." said Yuna. Dayne was feebly hacking at his fully-armoured nemesis, who seemed to be gloating at his position. While still gloating over his prone foe, he took aim with one of his arm armours, charging up another beam blast, this one levelled at Dayne' head...

Suddenly, though, Cassius seized up, the energy gathered dispersing, as he doubled over in pain, blood gushing from his mouth. Dayne took the opportunity, stabbing upwards at his foe, hitting a weak point in the armour. Cassius staggered again, and Dayne wriggled out from under his foot, rolling away as Cassius continued to recoil in a surprising bout of pain.

"You're right, Paine." Yuna spoke up again. "I have faith in them too." She had to have faith in them. They were the heroes now; it wasn't her story anymore.

"Yeah." Allister smirked sidelong. "Besides, it's our Princess up their. She has to win! Ralleone's always come up on top!" Clyde nodded in agreement, and the two decided to voice their opinions together, not knowing if they could actually hear or see them on the other side of the portal. An opinion that was shared across the Garden.

_"C'mon Princess Kairi! Give it your all!"_

"_Go Dayne! Show that bastard the pride of the Radiant Guardians!"_

"_WIN!"_

* * *

"Alright boys. Good luck tomorrow and happy Struggling!" Hayner passed around the various cans of pop and bars of ice cream to his assembled friends in the sandlot, spending the few waning hours of summer daylight relaxing after a long day of Struggle competition.

With Sora dethroning the reigning champion (Punk) a few weeks ago, a new tournament was in progress to crown a new champ. The final rounds of the tournament would be held tomorrow, with the "Supreme Sixteen" having being decided today. CM Punk had, of course, made it – with him being very clear that he wanted his belt back. Hayner, Isaac, and Garet had also qualified, being joined by (among others) Setzer, Seifer, Rai, and, most surprisingly, Fuu.

"You sound eager to lose to me, brush top." Punk said in a teasing manner, with his usual sly smile. He happily accepted a can of Pepsi and a chocolate ice cream bar from his fellow competitor.

"You kidding me? Your time in the sun is long gone, Punk." Hayner jabbed CM lightly in the arm, with the older teen ignoring him, as if to tell him he wasn't even worth his notice in this sport. Hayner sat next to Olette and Pence, who joined the avid Strugglers, along with Isaac, Garet, Ivan, and Mia.

Garet opened his can of lemonade and joined the discussion. "Oh, I agree that are punkish friend's time in the winner's circle is over. But it's gonna be _me_ holding that strap up tomorrow afternoon!" The redhead declared boisterously. "Well, me or Isaac."

The silent teen nodded silently while he ate his own ice cream bar.

Ivan simply sighed and rolled his eyes. "I simply can't understand this much fervour over a little game."

"Man, you can be such a girl, Ivan!" Hayner said in a derisive manner.

"Hayner!" Olette gasped, half offended, half chiding her friend. "Be nice!" She playfully slapped his thigh.

"Easy, easy! It's all in good fun." She gave him an odd look. "Okay. I'm sorry, Iv. Happy, Olette?"

"Getting pushed around by a girl, again?" The eight assembled teens all sighed when they realized the "Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee" had arrived to spoil there fun. "What an absolute wimp!" Seifer laughed at the weak taunt, Rai joining him, while Fuu shot him a rather angry look, Seifer not noticing.

"Does he ruin everything around here?" Mia, already exasperrated by Seifer's presence, asked the others. Before anyone could answer, Punk stood up and swaggered over to the trio.

"So...you think your the big man of the town, huh punk?" No one bothered to point out the hypocrisy of a man named "CM Punk" calling someone else a punk.

"Hey, don't talk to-"

"Not done yet!" Punk hissed through his teeth, shutting Seifer up. "You think that you and your walking Douche Brigade own and control anything, eh? That because you think your so great, it makes it so?" CM gave a flat, emotionless chuckle. "Yeah, no. You're an insignificant little crap with no power over anything. You think in you little teenaged world, you the kind? Wrong!" Punk was slowly marching right up to Seifer's face, growing louder and louder and even more intense. "As soon as you get out of that little bubble, life is gonna shut you up hard! Slap you across the face, tell you to shut up, sit down, and listen to how things are really done!" He was now only centimetres separating CM and Seifer's faces. "And you're even a complete assclown in your little high-school kingdom, you know that? 'We totally owned you lamers'? What the hell kind of insult is that!"

Punk raised his fists in triumph and marched back to his friends, who were impressed that his tirade had managed to shut Seifer up for a prolonged period of time, leaving the entire antagonistic trio in silence. Taking a long swig of his Pepsi, Punk then declared, "There is no God, and that cage wasn't thirty-feet high!"

"What?" Fuu questioned in her normal voice. Terse, quick, and sudden.

Pence offered the explanation. "CM gets sort of...insane when he has lots of sugar."

"I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me!"

Seifer finally returned to consciousness, coughing. "Yeah...well, we'll see who is king after tomorrow! I got the tournament in the bag!"

"How so?" Pence returned.

"My first round opponent is Fuu," he motioned to her, "So while all you lam-" He was clearly about to say 'Lamers', but then he saw the smile crossing Punk's face. "So while all you losers are exhausting yourselves, she'll lay down for my and I'll advance to the quarter finals without any effort!" He and Rai chuckled and their fiendish strategy, but it was shot down by a surprising source.

"Refuse." Fuu snapped.

"What?" Seifer asked.

"What are you doin', Fuu?" Rai tried pleading with his silent friend. "Seifer's the boss, y'know. Why don't ya listen to him?"

"Pride." Fuu returned crisply. She then pointed to Seifer, back to her and then nodded. "Victorious!"

The others were also surprised, but pleasantly so, by this turn of events. "Good for you, Fuu." Olette smiled and nodded at the white-haired girl.

"You think you guys can write one more cheer by tomorrow?" Hayner asked the four that weren't participating, laughing all the while. He wished he had a camera; the look on Seifer's face was priceless.

"Fine!" The Disciplinary Committee's leader huffed, very annoyed. "You're on notice, Fuu. And I'll just have to beat you tomorrow, too. I guess. Won't be any trouble for me."

"'Cause Seifer's the best, y'know?"

"Damn straight!"

Fuu glared at her two friends, not backing down. "Bring it."

Everyone had a good laugh, watching Seifer fumble and fume over Fuu's defection, though this was all interrupted when Isaac began to tug on one of Mia's sleeves.

"Yes, Isaac?" The blond boy pointed upward, resulting in Mia following his direction, gasping at her sight. Conversation were halted by the gasp, and they all followed Mia's move, looking up and displaying shock and awe.

Splayed across the twilit sky, was an alien starry void, against which was a battle with Sora, Kairi, and what could only be their friends, fighting some sort of monstrous, towering being.

Olette gasped loudly upon first seeing it. She always knew there was much more to Sora and company than meets the eyes, what with the Keyblade and the strange occurrences, but this sight was simply monumental. Almost beyond human comprehension.

"What kind of trick is this?" Seifer demanded to the void. Clearly his comprehension was just short of that of a humans.

"It's not a trick, Seifer." Pence replied.

"Reality..." Fuu added, in a hushed voice.

Punk eyed the void, then the can of pop in his hand. "...That's it. I've had too much Pepsi tonight."

The monster that the group was fighting flew forward, a bright ray of energy launching out from it's arms, it a struck a young girl with short blonde hair, sending her flying away.

"Namine!" Hayner, Pence, and Olette exclaimed in panic and concern. After the outburst, all three looked mystified.

"You know her?" Garet asked.

"I...don't really know." Hayner said in a confused voice. "I've never seen her before in my life but... I just _know_ that name." The monster descended upon Namine, but a blond-haired boy intercepted, blocking his attack with double Keyblades. The two struggled for a second, before the monster just compelled the two to fly away.

"And that was Roxas..." Olette pointed at the boy with two Keyblades. "They're Roxas and Namine." Laser beams shot forth, and Namine erected a glowing dome of energy, deflecting the blasts, but now she and Roxas were pinned down by the rapid-fire assault.

"What are you three trying to pull?" Seifer asked. He seemed to regard the portal in the sky with much suspicion, thinking it was all a kind of trick.

Punk snorted. "Shut up, watch, and open up your horizons a little." The monster flew forward again, shattering the barrier in two, his swords swinging wildly, slicing up both Roxas and Namine a little.

"Okay...but what does this all mean?" Ivan asked. Fireballs and rays of lightning shot from the Keyblades, simply bouncing off the monster, only causing him to flinch ever so slightly. With a single swing of his sword, both Roxas and Namine went flying again.

Hayner simply replied with, "Something... It means something."

* * *

Slowly but surely, the purification and restoration was happening.

After recovering the Radiant Garden, massive projects were initiated to try and repair as much of the Garden as possible, to make it habitable and return it to it's former beauty. And one of the largest and most important projects as part of this restoration was to rebuild and recover the seat of the Ralleone family, Starfall Castle, named as such due to the many crenellations and spires constructed from metallic meteorites.

Starfall was symbol, one of hope, peace, and of the old dynasty that governed and protected the kingdom for endless years. The job was massive in scale, work on it beginning over a year ago, and still there was plenty left to do. But, they were almost there. The Garden was coming close to returning to its former beauty.

Currently, the private chambers of the royal family – which had been recently repaired and restored – were occupied by one Squall "Leon" Leonhart, who was busy overlooking several files and papers he had been presented early this day. Merlin had joined him not too long ago, with a list of things still left to do with the castle, but he had respectfully choice to wait while Leon went over the papers before him.

Taking the one he was currently looking at in hand, Leon nodded approvingly, but with much curiosity in his eye. "Merlin, could you have a look at this?" He handed the paper over to the aged wizard. He accepted it and then adjusted his spectacles.

"Hmm... 'I, King Agrias Ralleone, the Second of My Name, the Light of Starfall...'." Leon advised him to skip the titles, pomp, and circumstance, which he did. "'I do hereby name Claudio and Rain Ivers as God-Parents to my daughter, Princess Kairi Ralleone...' It's signed by the King, but I don't remember any document being presented to the public."

"Look at the date."

Merlin did as he was bid and nodded in understanding. "Two days before he was found dead... Where did you say you found this?"

"One of the men said it was found in a secret passage connected to the library." Leon explained. There were a bevy of secret passages within Starfall, most of which had not been discovered yet. "I guess it was lost following his death."

Merlin stroked his beard. "Though, with Claudio having changed his named, this does present a problem..."

"Couldn't you forge something with your magic?"

The grand sorcerer looked rather offended by this comment "Now see here, I am a magician! Not some conniving... warlock who uses his magic for cheap parlour tricks and personal gain!"

This drew an odd chuckled from Leon. "I was just asking because Kairi will need a Godfather for the next few years. That, and, she is oddly fond of Dayne."

"I suppose I could. This one time..." Merlin calmed down considerably, drawing his wand from his cloak, but was interrupted when Yuffie burst through the doors, running across the room, and seizing Leon by the arm.

"What has gotten into you this time?" Leon groaned, as he was forcibly dragged across the room. The spunky ninja did not answer until Leon was moved out onto a nearby balcony.

Jumping up and down, Yuffie pointed upwards. "Look! Look!"

"What the hell...?" Though he was not shocked to see the assembled Keybladers and Cassius clash, he was left in shock as to why it was being displayed to the entire Radiant Garden, the images splayed across the sky.

"It's bad, Leon!" Yuffie wailed. "They've been getting their asses kicked by the giant Immortal!" The groups seemed to be at a stalemate currently, neither side acting, but both looking tired.

"Merlin?" Leon looked over his shoulder, to see that the wizard had joined them. "Do you know what this is?"

"Hmm... I could not say." He pondered aloud. "Whatever it is, it is some supremely powerful magic to be able to broadcast scenes from other worlds. Possibly other dimensions, considering these are the Immortals."

Gathering up a tremendous amount of energy, Cassius fired a massive ray of energy and light at the Keybladers, who were engulfed in the wake of the attack.

"Oh man!" Yuffie panicked some more, rather unnerved that someone like Sora (who had beaten her more than once) could be schooled by...anything! "That's it! They're done for!"

"You really have so little faith in them?" Leon chuckled again. It was really rare for him to do it twice in a day. "No. They're in a tight spot, but it will take more than that to finish them off."

* * *

Xastuur watched from the shadows, silent and unmoving, unnoticed as it would happen, too.

A small viewing gallery had been erected upon one of the open-aired platforms of The World That Never Was, resulting in some of the younger Nobodies to flock and view the spectacle that was Cassius versus the Keyblade Wielders. Three were currently present at the moment, sprawled out on couches, watching intently. Xastuur watched them – and the battle – from the shadows.

"Bravo! Bravo!" A man declared dramatically, applauding loudly. He wore a red pin-striped suit, with a black leather cloak draped over his shoulders. The cloak was lined with fine white sable. "Truly a battle for the ages! Though it shall pale in comparison if I ever get the chance to clash with the Keyblade Warriors. Then, we shall see a real explosion!" A dark red fedora sat upon his faded blond hair, which was cut rather short, but still slicked back. Glasses with yellow-tinted lenses sat on a young, thin, and oddly excited face, with a thin, light goatee shadowing his chin.

The two young women sitting next to him giggled and laughed at their companion. "Please, Rittaxsagius! Do you always have to say everything with such...dramatic gravitas!" The girl added the last part with a parodic impression of the man's phrasing. The Nobody in question looked quite young, barely older than a teenager, with an equally young face. Her cloak seemed to look like a hooded mini-dress that skirted to around knee length. "And like you could actually do anything to them! You panic the instant anything goes out of place with your suit." Her black-and-blonde marbled hair was held up in two pigtails that shot out of her head straight as arrows, held in place by several metallic rings. "The real issue of tonight is if that damn Cassius puts a hand on my Riku!" Her eyes – heterochromatic, one an black, the other orange – took on a very angry look.

The other female Nobody, older than the teen next to her, sighed loudly. "Oh little Ceppsix, you still fawning over those dirty boys?" Long brown hair was tied into several braids that either coiled around her next or fell down her back. Crescent streaks of white slashed across the brown. Her cloak took the shape of a tight black jumpsuit, forming across her lithe figure, though her arms were fully engulfed the large bell-sleeves. White lines dashed around and across her suit. "The true crime is Cassius bullying those three lovely ladies up there!" She sighed again. "Though the water girl seems to be a little rough around the edges..."

"Let's cut a deal then, Vroxgi," The Nobody named Ceppsix said. "When it's all said and done, I get my Riku, and you can have your pick of the girls. Deal?" A thin smile revealed a wicked little fang jutting out just beyond the boundaries of her upper lip.

"Deal!" Vroxgi declared alongside her ally.

Rittaxsagius shook his head. "You two are most bizarre!"

"But we're stronger than you, so there!" Ceppsix said childishly.

"Prove it."

"I'll beat a Keyblader before you!"

Vroxgi snorted. "I'll beat one before either of you. Hell, I'll have Kairi captured before either of your have acted."

The three began to squabble, when Xastuur looked away. Not because of their fighting, but because he sensed a presence with the shadows. "Come to watch the fight, Loxe?" His voice was cool, sharp, and controlled.

"Hardly." Stepping outward slightly, Loxe's petite frame was outlined in the darkness by the small amount of light in the area. Some of it was reflecting off of her blue-tinted glasses, shining fiercely against the black backdrop. "I was wondering why you came to watch this farce."

"I wanted to see the Keyblade Warriors in a true fight." He then looked back to the three Nobodies. "And what impressions they would make on some of them."

Loxe gave a bark of derisive laughed. "You can let her out of your sight for a few minutes, you know. It won't kill her."

Xastuur just regarded her in silence. A great cheer rose up from the three. Something spectacular must of happened. "What do you think of them?" He was referring to the Keyblade Warriors.

"I cannot say." Loxe pushed her glasses up on her face. Xastuur thought she could really use a pair that fit her better. "Lord Anarados promised me a sortie in a months time so I could gather more information. Otherwise, someone of my level would never face those fools."

"I would like to face them, I think... Two in particular."

"Why? Not like any of them could possibly give us a challenge. If I were more in the mood to fight, I would wait until Terra and Aqua entered the field."

"There is more to an opponent then their strength. There are lessons to be learned in the heat of a true fight." He glanced over his shoulder for a second, then looked back and declared. "The Immortals have fallen, it would seem."

* * *

Back pedalling like a mad man, Dayne regrouped with the others.

He didn't know what had happened. One moment, he was pinned under Cassius's foot, about to be obliterated by a beam blast. The next? Cassius was seizing over, coughing up blood, and thrashing about like he was in the most excruciating pain imaginable. He sure was thankful for it though.

The monstrously large and power Immortal was still thrashing about, in great pain, after spending the last ten minutes systematically destroying his opponents, one by one. None of their attacks seemed to even faze him, so they were very grateful to be granted this reprieve.

"What's happening to him?" Sora asked. He had managed to maintain Final Form, knowing that they would be in an even more hopeless situation without the extra power.

"Beats me." Dayne grumbled. Green light was washing over him and a few others. Cure spells courtesy of Namine and Kairi, refreshing their energy and healing some of their hurts.

Riku spoke up. "I think... He can't contain the power."

"What?"

"Well, think about it. Zirconiade is supposed to be this insanely powerful being that can destroy the universe. Do you really think that the spirit of something that strong could be contained in a body? Even an Immortal body?" Everyone looked rather impressed at Riku's deduction.

"You have gotten good at noticing things, haven't you?" Kairi said.

"If what Riku says is true, then now's are chance!" Roxas declared.

"Right!" Kalyn nodded in agreement, readying freedom. "We have to go, now!"

"Like I'll give you the chance!"

Even though he sounded pained, the booming voice of Cassius the Cosmos was enough to stop the Keyblade Wielders in there tracks. "If Zirconiade's power is tearing this vessel up, then I-I...!" He gave a painful sounding hack, before starting again, sounding more rushed and panicked now. "The I will finish you all off in a single blow, and steal all of your hearts!" Orbs of energy back to build up at the mouths of his dragon gauntlets. "I'll become stronger than any being that ever existed!" The spheres began to grow larger and larger, his arms outstretched, and voice psychotic and maniacal. "I'll surpass the Gods themselves! I am the perfect, immortal being!"

Sora and Dayne, Keyblades in hand, darted to the head of the group. "Like we'd let you!"

"Insects! Tremble before Cassius the Cosmos!" He clapped both his arms together, the two energy spheres winding together into a gigantic blast of energy, ready to explode outward at any moment. Before the light and intensity of the blast, Sora and Dayne skidded to a stop.

"Infinity... **Big Bang...** **STORM!**"

The blast shot forward, in a burning stream of green, black, and blue energy, large enough to engulf all the Keybladers before Cassius. Dayne hurled Sora behind him, and got Butterfly Rain up just in time to block the energy beam. The energy splayed all over him, washing around his body, while he projected an energy wall to try and keep it from directly hitting him. Cassius began to cackle in glee at the prospect of Dayne's impending demise.

"That's it, burn! BURN! Burn in the everlasting hellfire of creation! Right down to the last scrap of DNA!"

Dayne couldn't keep up this pace forever. He was already exhausted keeping up the energy wall, he was being pushed back by the force of the stream... little fingers of the energy licked across his shoulders and legs, burning him... Maybe it was the delirium of battle, but he honestly thought he could see and hear his Keyblade actually _cracking_.

_I can't do this..._ He thought in panic and dismay. _I'm not strong enough. Even with a Keyblade, I'm not strong enough... I'm sorry, Rain... I can't save them..._ The burning tide began to break through, when he felt something push against his back...

"You giving up already?"

Sora was there, behind him, pushing against Dayne as he was pushed by the energy stream. Both his hands were up against his broad back, touching the butterfly on the coat.

Dayne didn't reply. He didn't think he had the strength to, and so Sora went on. "This is the bastard who killed Rain, and I won't let him take you from us, either. I won't let him take you from Kairi!"

"...And how do you propose we stop him?" He croaked out.

"Hey, we beat him before, so we can beat him again! Haven't I taught you anything?"

Dayne had to look back at Sora at that. Teach? He was struck utterly clueless and lost at the thought of Sora teaching anything.

"I don't give up! I don't lay down! And I don't give up on my friends!" He pushed on Dayne harder and harder, trying futilely to push him against the energy beam. "We can do this, Dayne! Right? Say it with me! Say it!"

He didn't feel like he could say it, even just to spite the hopeless situation. But there was something else that Sora said that resonated with him, that he could say proudly and with conviction.

"...For Rain. We'll do this for Rain."

Sora smiled at that. "You're right. We will. Let's go!"

"_Resonance Drive!"_

Just when it looked like the beam would finally break through, Sora and Dayne were engulfed in an upward burst of red and steel-blue light. The energy soon subsided and something flew forward from where Sora and Dayne were, splitting through the beam, negating it, and crashing right into Cassius! The towering Immortal was thrown backwards by the sudden attack, slammed into the foot of the altar.

Sora touched back down to the floor, revealing he was once again in his Guardian Form, or rather, Guardian Form over Final Form, with the bits and pieces of Guardian form worn over the silver clothes of Final, and the crosses replaced by butterflies. "Okay Cassius, bring it on!" Sora's voice was underlain with a twinge of Dayne's own voice, giving the last Immortal a very Dayne-like look.

"What is that?" Namine asked.

"Yeah, I thought I saw all of Sora's Drives..." Roxas added.

"He got a new one." Kairi pointed out. "Though, it's a little different. There seems to be a little bit of Dayne mixed in with Sora in this Form. It's...different. A little disconcerting."

"D-don't think you can defeat me..." Cassius managed himself to his feet, his body shaking. "I told you a thousand times, and I will tell you until the universe ends... I am Immortal!" He held out his left arm to try and make a point, but was utterly stunned when he saw the dragon gauntlet and his arm crumble into dust! His body really couldn't handle the energy.

"Stop it with that crap," Guardian Sora shouted, "You're not Immortal. You gain energy and life by stealing hearts from other beings. You're utterly dependant on other creatures, not your own strength. You take and take and take, but never give in return. Nature actually already has a name for stuff like you: parasites! And that's exactly what you are! A damn parasite!" He summoned Destiny Heart and Butterfly Rain, and took his stance.

"I will not lose to a worm like you..." Cassius tried to look menacing, but his body was slowly crumbling and falling apart, making that task very hard.

"You've lost twice already, and we can do it again!" Guardian Sora glared at Cassius, remembering their battle on Twilight Town. "Having flashbacks, Cassius? We beat the Heaven in this form, remember?"

Cassius charged forward, roaring madly as his body continued to disintegrate. Sora made an unimpressed noise as he back away, both Keyblades still in hand.

"I'm putting an end to all this right now!" Still backing away, Sora slashed both his Keyblades through the air twice, leaving behind two large Xs made of energy, one red and one blue. "Ars Clavis Storm Over-Flare!"

Sora flew through the air, both his Keyblades out before him. He drove into the two Xs, which wrapped around him into a blazing, blade-like aura. The energy-laced Sora crashed into the falling apart Cassius, driving into the massive Immortal and throwing him back into the altar. The aura around Sora exploded into a grand flare of electrical energy and light, destroying the altar, and likely Cassius, and it sent up a huge dust cloud.

From the cloud, Sora and Dayne flew backwards, still exhausted from the battle and the Drive.

The others gathered around them, happy to see Cassius taking such a blow, but anxious to finally see the end results. "Is it really over?" Kairi muttered. She let out a sight of relief when the endless curtain of stars receded, turning back into the stone walls of Infinity Paradiso. The dust settled, revealing that the altar had been utterly demolished, and Cassius with apparently. Now, a pit of swirling energy rested where it once was.

Sora chuckled in victory. "We did it!" At once, it all settled in on everyone. The Immortals were gone, and they could finally all go home and relax for a little bit, without having to worry about them attacking.

"It's about time, too." Ed sighed.

"Still seems sort of anti-climactic..." Kalyn muttered to herself.

"Oh, please don't say it again!" Roxas pleaded.

Namine beamed brightly, mostly to herself. "Let's go then! I got a new life waiting for me!"

With that, everyone started to head towards the exit and the long climb down.

Everyone except for Dayne.

"Dayne?" Sora stopped, his voice stopping the others. "Hey, Dayne? Hello? You coming with us?" Dayne hadn't moved from his spot, staring at the pit where the altar once was.

"...He's still alive." He said quietly. No one had to ask who he was referring to.

"What are you talking about?" Riku questioned.

"He's there! Cassius is there!" Dayne pointed at the pit. "He's down there! Wherever that is!"

Everyone looked at him a little skeptically. He noticed this and continued on. "He is! I don't know how I know, but I do! I do! And...what if he comes back! What then? It'll be my fault for not stopping him and... and..." Dayne suddenly seemed to finally look like his age, gaining several decades in mere seconds.

"Dayne..." Kairi walked up to him, and held onto one of his hands. "You don't have to fight anymore. You can go home and rest and live..." Then she remembered that Dayne only had about six months of time left. "Just...come with us, please?"

Dayne looked at her, at the sweet, smiling Princess he had thought was dead until two months ago. The person he would give his life to, who's family made him who he was. He looked behind her at all of her friends. Roxas and Namine, so happy to be given this new chance at life; Riku, who reminded him of a younger him in his devotion to his friends; and Sora, who had grown so much in Dayne's opinion. From a little child, to a strong, confident warrior who he could respect in his own silent way.

Shutting his eyes, he decided. Their world was not his world.

"I can't. I really can't." He slid his hand out hers, turned, and walked away, marching towards the pit.

"What...?" Kairi sounded absolutely heartbroken, the sound of which actually caused Dayne to take pause. "Dayne... please, you can't do this! Not alone! No! Haven't you learned anything? We'll go together. You and Sora and me and everyone!_ Please_!"

"No." He said. He didn't turn around. He couldn't. It would kill him to see her like this. "You all have years and years ahead of you. Infinite futures full of possibilities. I'm dead in a few months. There's no way to tell if we can come back from there, so I can't ask any of you to go with me. I have to do this myself." With that, he started to walk again.

Kairi looked about, bewildered. Tears welling in her eyes. Why wasn't anyone stopping him? He was just walking to his own doom without any resistance! Why? Why?

He felt a hand fall on her shoulder. It was Sora. He looked at her with endless sadness in his eyes, feeling for her. "He's following his heart. We can't stop him from doing that." She vaguely recalled King Mickey saying something like that, but she didn't care for sage advice now. She wrenched away from Sora and continued to call at Dayne.

"Damn it!" She went from melancholy to rage in an instant. "I"m your Princess! Listen to me! I'm your Princess, and as such, I command you to stop what you're doing and stay by my side! I _command_ it!" She never thought the words would leave her mouth so easily, or feel so natural, but they did.

They also seemed to have the desired effect, as Dayne stopped again, this time turning around and marching back to Kairi. His eyes downcast the entire time. Never looked directly at her, he removed his prized longcoat and put the heavy garment into her arms.

"You have no idea how proud I am to hear you say that..." He took a step back, and finally looked up. Dayne was crying, heavily and without shame. "Princess Kairi," tears still streaming like a waterfall, he saluted her, "May I say that it was an honour serving you and your family the past twenty-years, but I am afraid that I must now resign my services to your family. Thank you," Surprisingly, Dayne knelt down and hugged the redheaded Princess. "Thank you for everything. If it makes you feel better, I don't want to go. But I have to..." He then let go of her, wiped the tears from his eyes, and walked back to the pit again.

"But... I need you..." This wasn't happening. First her mother and father, then Rain, then her brother. Not Dayne too...

"You have Sora." He replied, not looking back. "And Namine, and Riku, and everyone else. A psycho like me is the last thing you need, Princess." With that, she fell to her knees, defeated, still gripping his longcoat feebly.

"Hey, Dayne?" Again, Dayne stopped at Sora's call. After a brief second, Sora spoke up again, "Kick his ass!"

With the simple encouragement, Dayne flashed him a thumbs up, and then marched to the pit, never stopping, before jumping into the unknown.

**To Be Continued**

_Cliffhanger! (I sure like those a lot, huh?)_

_And, again, Chapters 48, 48, and 50 will all be uploaded on the same day. So get ready, we're almost done folks!_

**Chapter Preview**

_It all comes down to this. The pain, the sacrifice, the triumph, the defeat, the sorrow... One last battle. **Next Chapter!** So big, it can only be called one thing! **Genesis of Destiny Chapter 48: The End!**_

* * *

_Please Review_

_Go Canucks, Go_

_SirAngelo**  
**_


	48. The End

_Angelo: Alright! Finally made it!_

_Sora: You seem to be in a good mood, Angelo._

_Angelo: 'Course I am! Finishing up this story, and I'm playing a regular game of Dungeons & Dragons. It's hard not to be in a good mood! It's been a while since I've played, too. We're doing a Double Campaign - where each player plays two character - and I am playing a Human Cleric of Pelor and a Dragonborn Paladin of the Raven Queen. The rest of our party includes an Elf Ranger, a Deva Invoker of Sehanine, a Shardmind Warlock, and an Elf Runepriest of Erathis._

_Sora: And you'll be having us play some D&D in the fic, aren't you?_

_Angelo: Of course! I'm also proud to present a new feature for my homepage:_

_Things SirAngelo Has Learned Playing Dungeons & Dragons_

_#1: Surprise Rounds will eff you up!_

_#2: Gnomes are shifty little buggers with a stupid high Bluff Skill  
_

_#3: Must kill all gnomes_

_Sora: *writes information down* Never know when this stuff will come in handy..._

_Anyways, thank you everyone for reading, I hope you enjoy the last little bit. There is a new poll up on the main page, so check that out. Again, reviews aren't just welcomed, they are encouraged. And I look forward to writing more in the future! Take care!  
_

Chapter 48: The End

Dayne's body dropped like a stone, falling headlong into the pit left behind by Cassius the Cosmos, passing through the empty light sourced within it's depths. It was not like falling through air, there was almost no feeling as he permeated the veil. Eventually, the light faded away, and he touched down on solid ground, finding himself within another void filled with heavenly bodies. Clusters of stars and nebulae swirled in the skies above him, space stretching out endlessly, with some kind of glassy material making up the floor, reflecting the dim starlight high above, making it seem as if the ground itself possessed and ethereal glow.

And standing across from Dayne, was Cassius the Cosmos himself, fully repaired from his breakdown moments before.

"I knew you would follow me, Deuce." The Immortal sneered. Dayne paid him no mind, instead summoning his Keyblade and preparing for battle. "Why so temperamental?"

Dayne charged forth, leaping into the air and slashing down with Butterfly Rain. Cassius leisurely avoided the attack, as if Dayne was moving as slow as a tortoise.

"Don't be so hasty to finish me off, fool." He waves his arms to the alien geometries that were their surroundings. "You do know what this place is, don't you?" When Dayne made no response, Cassius continued. "This is the zone that has confined Zirconiade for so long. If Zirconiade ceases to be, so does this zone. So does the Severed Realm I have called home for many years. And need I remind you that Zirconiade and I are one in the same now." Dayne only scoffed at the villain.

"Do you take me for an idiot or something?" Cassius scowled back. "I inferred all of that before I jumped in. I knew that doing this would be the end of me, and I also knew I was the only one who could do this." He chuckled darkly to himself. "If I die, who's going to miss me, right? Anyways...I woke up this morning, fully expecting, fully wanting to die! That may have changed over the course of the day, but the moment I stepped into this pit, I knew I wouldn't be stepping back."

If Cassius was taken aback by this, he did a good job not showing it, instead staring Dayne down through his visor. "And I'm not gonna be afraid of you either," Dayne continued. "Not anymore. Remember how you lost to us five minutes ago? I bet you still can't contain all the energy of that form in your body." He grinned wickedly at the proclamation, but Cassius remained unfazed.

"Yes. That is a problem. However..." A glowing, orange mist began to seep out of Cassius's body, his body shrinking in size as it did. The armour began to dissolve or retract into his body, eventually returning him to the form he was in when he rose out of the pit. Everything below his neck was covered by the featureless, smooth, blue stone-like material, a glowing orb inserted in the middle of his chest, while his head bore remarkable similarities to Cassius the Hell's.

Dayne narrowed his eyes in anticipation._ Looks like he leeched off some of his excess power. He's weaker in this form – a lot weaker – but he won't end up getting crippled in this fight. That could be a problem..._

"I thought this form would be fitting for our duel." Cassius stretched out his arms and twin katanas materialized in his hands. "A form remarkably similar to my original one; the one you first met all those years ago. I think I shall dub it: Cassius the Perfected."

"You can call yourself whatever you want, it still makes you a parasite." Dayne smiled. He found that analogy of Sora's awful clever, even though it was technically insulting him, too.

"Make all the clever quips you want, it makes no difference." Cassius wheeled his blades around, taking his stance. "I will defeat you, Dayne Rivera. Your corpse will be the first rung on my ladder to Godhood."

"Maybe." Dayne stood with his legs spread wide, left leg held in front of the right one. His Keyblade was gripped in both hands, held off to the side, and parallel with his hip and right leg. "Maybe you won't though. There's a clear difference between the two of us psychologically, Cassius. And that difference will mean the difference in victory and defeat!"

Both long-lived Immortals let their battle cries loose and charged across the bizarre dimension, swords clanging against one another, sounding the beginning of their final duel. One eighty-years in the making.

* * *

Meanwhile, crossing back from the Severed Realm into the Realm of Light, _The Ark_ was making the final legs of this journey, ferrying the group of intrepid adventurers and Keybladers back home.

But Kairi was not in the mood for celebrating, as much as she missed some normalcy in life. She was sitting in some random hallway in the ship, sulking to herself, clutching Dayne's longcoat. Kairi didn't exactly know how to feel, to be furious at him for leaving her, or to sink into a terrible sadness because, well, Dayne was gone.

He was gone. She could only remember knowing him for two months, true, but he was her last connection to her past life. Even ignoring the fact that she had lost a friend, there were just so many things that she realized she wanted to ask Dayne, but couldn't now. She barely knew anything about her parents, or her brother, or about the kingdom she know swore she would rule. She felt like a complete idiot.

He Keyblade Spirit's voice rang into her head, loud and clear. _You're far too hard on yourself. I mean, sure you spent two months with him and had ample time to ask him these questions. And sure, you knew that he was developing some hearty death-seeker traits. And sure-_

She was not in the mood for this right now. _Stop talking, Miw. Now._

_Uh...yes. Sorr- Miw!_

_It's what I'm calling you now._

_That is not my name._ He sounded rather offended.

_Yes, but until you tell me wh-_

_Until you tell me!_

Kairi rolled her eyes and continued, undaunted. _Until you tell me what your name is, I'm calling you that. It's an acronym for "Man-In-White"._

"Miw" coughed, rather sheepishly. _Very well. Whatever you wish, Princess._

"Dayne! Don't call me Princess!" A half-second after the fact, she realized what she had said and clapped a hand over her mouth. Dayne was the only one who would call her that and really, really mean it. And he kept calling her that, no matter how many times she told him not to. She suddenly felt even more crestfallen, realizing Dayne would never call her that again...

"So this is where you've been hiding." She looked up to see Sora and Namine standing over her. "Who were you talking to, just now?" Sora asked her, acting so carefree as always. She was very envious of that trait.

Kairi shied away from them, clutching the longcoat tighter. Sora and Namine didn't take the hint and sat right next to her. "Just talking to myself..." She muttered, realizing she wouldn't be getting her way.

"Kairi...I know you're sad about Dayne, but you can't just shut yourself out like this." Namine rested a hand on her shoulder. "No one else is. Sora isn't. Roxas isn't. I'm not."

The forlorn Princess almost lashed out at her new sister. "You didn't know-"

"Dayne was a very light sleeper." Namine cut her off, very slowly and gently, noting the anger in Kairi's voice. "He would only get around four or five hours a night. And Roxas and I would also leave you two at night and come out for some..." She coughed into her hand. "Alone time... We would often talk with Dayne, too. He was our friend as much as yours, and we're all going to miss him a whole lot. But...you can't do this to yourself Kairi."

She looked at her rather sullenly. "Are you saying I shouldn't mourn him?"

"No, you _should_ mourn him. Mourn him as much as you want. But don't let mourning him become your entire life. Remember when Rain died? Remember what Dayne turned into? Don't let yourself turn into that, Kai..."

Kairi didn't respond, instead she looked back down at the longcoat. "Kairi." Sora's voice came softly. She felt her head move against her will, now looking directly at Sora, who was looking back at her with his soft, pure cerulean eyes, his face quiet and calm. "We're going to miss Dayne. Everyone of us. But I don't think this is the end... I don't think Dayne is gone for good."

"What?" She blinked back. Sora smiled and nodded.

"It's just a feeling I have." He said simply. "I mean, this is Dayne we're talking about! Do you really think he'd go down so easily? Just have a little faith in him... I mean, where would we be without it? Without believing in our friends and that they can do the impossible and find their way back to us. Roxas and Namine came back to us. And so did Riku. I did too... I came back to you." He still remembered that moment. Plunging the Keyblade of People's Hearts into his chest, freeing Kairi but (seemingly) damning himself. He never thought he would come back, as all the warmth left his body. Well, all the warmth except a tiny little bit. He had saved Kairi. He could have died there, and that would have been enough for him.

"And, Kairi, also remember you're not alone." The redhead looked to turn at Namine. Her flaxen-haired twin looking a bit embarrassed for whatever reason. "I know you're all ready to become Kairi Ralleone, Crown Princess of the Radiant Garden, Heir to the Ralleone Royal Family Dynasty and all that, but don't forget you have me and...and..." The hint of a smile twitched across her face. "And you have mom and dad, and Erica too. We may not know anything about who you were beforehand, but we're still your family. We still love you, too."

A smile started to break across Kairi's face at long last, as she drew her sister and her boyfriend into a loving hug. "Thank you..." She whispered to them. She had always had a good relationship with her adopted sister, and really missed her when she left for college last fall. She had another one now – a twin – one that wouldn't leave her so easily. She wanted to have the same relationship with Namine that she had with Erica. And Sora... _I was an idiot to wait so long to tell him I love him. I won't make that mistake twice. I'm not waiting so long this time..._ How true that statement was. And Kairi didn't even know it yet...

As Kairi was roused out of her funk, she was being watched by a third party, unknown to the others. Kalyn watched the relative stranger with intense focus, wondering what her story was.

"What you up to?" She turned around, seeing Riku had sneaked up on her. "Spying on Kairi?"

She shrugged. "I guess. She sulks for the easiest reasons...What's her deal anyways?"

"Eh...it's a complicated thing." The two began to walk away from the other three. "Remind me to tell you someday... Oh! That reminds me, have you given any thought to my offer?"

She squinted at him. "'Offer'?" The she remembered. He had asked if she would like to live on the Islands after all this madness. She began to chew on her bottom lip in thought. For the last couple hours, ever since Edward called her out for being such a bitch, her mind had been preoccupied on herself, her life, and what she wanted out of it. Ed and Al had lost their mother, and much of themselves, in a horrific accident, and yet they were good people. She had been asking herself what her damage was.

"I..." She stopped, unable to find her words. Why was it that she always felt so flustered when she talked to Riku? "I keep thinking back to Ivalice. Being stuck in Rabanastre, being harassed by the Imperials day in and day out. Being anchored to that one place, unable to do anything about my fate. Just thinking about it makes me angry, so utterly furious at that place and the position I was left in... The you came. Then I got the Keyblade. I got my Freedom, and I could finally control my own life." She summoned the blue falchion of a Keyblade, admiring it reverently, before turning to Riku and saying, coffee coloured eyes filled with determination. "I don't want to go back to that place. I am tired of being angry all the time. I just want to live."

Riku smiled back at her, causing the Ivalician girl to shy away a bit. "You can do that on the islands...Might get a little boring for you, but least you'll be used to the weather...hehe." _Jeez...I sound like Sora._

Dawn sighed in an overly dramatic way. _Don't start going all gaga on her, you hear?_

Careful so Kalyn wouldn't see him, he rolled his eyes._ You have some of the worst timing possible, Dawn..._

_Part of my charms, Riku-kun!_

"So, what is there to do on your home?" She asked, curiously. However inept the islanders were in magic compared to Ivalice, they were leagues ahead in technology.

"Uh...that depends." He wasn't sure how to go about this. They were going to have a few conversations involving social etiquette and modern society. "I mean, we – Sora, Kairi, myself, and probably Roxas and Namine – are gonna be back in school in about a month."

She looked at him startled. "You're all rich enough to afford education?" He looked back at her, confused. "In Rabanastre, only the rich can afford education."

"Well, on the islands, public education is mandated for everyone until they're sixteen."

"You have enough people to tutor all those children?"

Now it was his turn to sigh, exasperated. The idea of a public school building was apparently foreign in Ivalice. This was going to be a long process...

* * *

Cassius vanished from sight, and Dayne reflexively back away, holding his Keyblade up. Blood slowly tricked down his body, from his legs, his arms, his shoulders, and his back.

No matter how strong his regeneration was, Dayne couldn't withstand such an assault for much longer. Cassius's speed and dexterity were at a seemingly unmatched level, so much so that Dayne could barely block or dodge an attack before being sliced up. And his speed didn't even factor into Cassius's newest ability: teleportation

In a shocking gambit, one that completely caught Dayne off-guard, Cassius appeared right in front of him, lunging at his head with one of his swords. Dayne narrowly swerved out of the way of the striking blade, the edge dragging across his forehead, drawing more of his blood out. Better that than the alternative, getting his head split open by the katana.

The Immortal leader vanished, only to reappear just as quick, to Dayne's right, with the bleeding Keyblader jumping away just in time to avoid being skewered on twin blades. When Dayne landed from his jump, Cassius was right behind him, raking his swords across laterally across his shoulders. Blood spurted into the air, with Dayne stumbling away in blind pain. Cassius blocked his wild trashing by warping directly in front of him, jamming a katana into and through his gut. Dayne doubled over in pain, blood gushing out of his stomach wound and mouth. Cassius withdrew the now-crimson blade from his foe's body, kicking Dayne away from him, a streak of blood trailing after him.

"Warped Euclidean!" Dayne looked up, expecting another unblockable attack, but instead saw Cassius's entire body turning into a metallic liquid substance – not unlike mercury – and seeping into the ground, with no trace of him to be seen.

Cautiously, Dayne got to his feet, some of his wounds knitting themselves up. He couldn't keep this up for much longer. Speed was the name of the game in this fight; Cassius had to be quick to exhaust Dayne's healing factor, while Dayne had to be just as quick, since Cassius's limitless energy would cause a battle of attrition to swing in his favour. And for a big, burly power fight like Dayne taking on a swift, lighting-fast attacker like Cassius, the odds weren't not looking good for the Master of Lightning.

Unbeknownst to him, a blob of liquid metal was growing from the floor behind Dayne, eventually rising up and taking shape. It looked like Cassius's entire upper body had sprouted from the ground! Before Dayne realized he was being flanked by his enemy, Cassius drove both his katanas into Dayne's back, causing him to scream in pain, arching backward. With his enemy paralysed in pain, Cassius swung his arms overhead, picking Dayne up and flipping him through the air, slamming the blue-haired Guardian onto the ground. Cassius turned back into the liquid metal, flowing away, then rising up, back to his normal form.

Getting back to his feet, much slower this time, Dayne glared at his former leader, breathing heavily after the constant assault. Despite the pain racking his body, he managed to lift up his claymore of a Keyblade, now glowing with red light. "My turn...and I think I'm gonna perform a classic for this one." He swung his blade slowly in a low arc, keeping a constant eye on Cassius. Suddenly, his blade caught on fire. "Prism Chain Arts, Firaga Style: Serpentine Blaze!"

"Telega Rush!"

Cassius vanished from sight, as Dayne unleash a wave of flame from his Keyblade, taking the form of a serpentine dragon. The living flames circled through the air, crashing through to the ground, hitting nothing in it's fiery wake. Blue energy now collected around Butterfly Rain, as Dayne soaked up an aerial slash from Cassius, who warped away again.

"Prism Chain Arts, Blizzaga Style!" He hefted his Keyblade into the air, scales of jewelled ice sprouting over the blade. Cassius appeared to his left. "Diamond Shower!"

The scales burst off the blade with a thunderous _crack,_ raining down all over Dayne. Cassius tried to slash the projectiles away, but several of them bypassed his frantic guard, embedding themselves into his skin and causing him to err away for now, teleporting again.

_I've got this..._ Dayne hopped three steps away. "Prism Chain Arts, Striking Style!" He paused for a moment, waiting, ever patient and wary...just as Cassius appeared right above him, diving downward, swords first! Dayne jumped away again, causing Cassius to smash down, katanas scrabbling across the glassy ground. "Five second's are up! Rocket Lance!" Golden energy surrounded Dayne, as he darted towards Cassius, Keyblade outstretched, feet hovering off the ground. Cassius went to block the attack, crossing his blades over his chest, but Dayne changed attacks at the last moment, raising his Keyblade up over the centre of the guard, driving the Keyblade into this chest, and pushing Cassius backwards.

"Five seconds," Dayne huffed. He felt a little too weak. Too much blood loss already. "That's the time between when you disappear and reappear with that little teleport spam... No more tricks, Cassius."

"Oh, there are still many more tricks." Both katanas were driven into the odd, glassy ground, a wave of green energy rippling from them, spreading over the surface. "Eldritch Geometries!"

Dark, razor sharp metallic spires began to erupt from the area around Dayne, shooting up at odd angles like spears. None of them came close to hitting him, even as spires shot out of spires, but they ended up becoming so tightly clustered together, it leaved very little room for the big man to move.

"Warped Euclidean!"

Through the thicket of dark metal, Dayne saw Cassius shift into his mercurial form, vanishing into the ground again. Before he could even think of manoeuvrings out of the forest of towers, Cassius sprouted out of one of them, slashing almost right through his adversary with a brutal slash. Blood erupted from Dayne's back as he staggered about within the limited space of his prison. The assault was far from over though, as Cassius continued to turn into liquid and reform, raining down a flurry of blows on Dayne, inflicting more and more brutal wounds upon him. One the last strike, Cassius chose to straight up impale Dayne, piercing him through the right side of his chest and nailing him to one of the spires.

"Is this really the best you can do?" Cassius reformed outside of the prison of towers, his katana now shining with sickly green and orange light. "A Keyblade Wielder and an Immortal, and all you can muster is a few meagre flesh wounds?" Dayne made no reply except to groan and struggled against the pinning weapon, feebly. "What a disappointment. What should be the beginning of my glorious ascension is now just a meaningless and annoying struggled." With his sword, Cassius traced the Grecian letter for "Omega", leaving behind a trail of light to show off the character. "Begone. Omega Diffusion!"

Cassius waved his katana, and a rush of green-tinted wind billowed through the alien space, striking against the the prisons of spires, shattering them utterly, before picking up Dayne and the newly made debris and depositing them even farther away from the Immortal leader.

"Guess I don't have much of a choice..." Dayne said wearily, his voice echoing over the patter-patter of blood drops. He pulled out the katana lodged in his body and chucked it across the battlefield, towards Cassius. "Remember when I said that there was a clear difference between the two of us?" He was now standing up, an action that came with much difficulty. "The difference is that you have to hold back, while I don't You think you'll be going back if you win-"

"I know I _will_ be going back _when_ I win!"

Dayne acted like he never heard Cassius's proclamation. "But I know what awaits me, whether I win or lose. I'm not going home. I die after this fight, plain and simple. But I won't go quietly into the night, I'm fighting for everyone else up there. With a monster like you running about, their hopes and dreams lie on me! So I can't afford to hold back in this fight, unlike you. Your delusions are holding you back from your true potential!"

"You mean the Infuse?" Cassius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep." After a moment, Dayne oddly examined his Keyblade, chuckling to himself. "It's funny actually. Ever since I got this, it's as if I can hear all those hearts in my body that I collected from long ago. Wanna know what they're telling me?" He didn't bother waiting for a response. "They're all screaming at me to kick you sorry ass! So I'm gonna oblige them, I'm gonna use up every single last heart that I have, right down to my original, take their prayers and hope and strength and use it to put an end to you once and for all!"

Cassius scoffed. "Use the Infuse until only your heart remains? Don't be a fool, no Immortal has that fine a control over it!"

"Really?" Dayne shut his eyes in concentration. "Well, let's put your theory to the test, shall we?"

All of a sudden, a great rush of energy exploded around Dayne, a great, bright blue flame surrounding and billowing around the reformed Immortal. His eyes shone with the same power, almost blotting out his grey-green irises. Muscles and tendons bulged and tensed up, and the wounds riddling his body seemed to heal quicker than possible. If it weren't for the rips in his clothing and the bloodstains, you could have sworn that Dayne was just starting this fight.

"If you are trying to intimidate me, you fail." Cassius motioned with his free hand, his discarded katana returning to it's master's grip. "I will not be cowed by some empty boast! Telega Rush!"

Cassius vanished, and five seconds later, appeared above Dayne's shoulder, ready to strike. The newly empowered Dayne, however, had different plans. He spun around, blocking the sweeping slash with his Keyblade, before breaking his guard, wheeling his large weapon around and slamming into Cassius's shoulder. The rock-like skin broke under the force of Butterfly Rain, blood bursting out from the crater of a wound, as Cassius was smashed down onto the ground, bouncing off it like a ball.

"Tch..." Cassius groaned as he was sent flying away. He was utterly shocked by this display of power. The strength, the speed, the healing factor... Such a turn around was maddening! "So you've used the Infuse..." Cassius stood back up; Dayne's flame-like aura was still around, overshadowing even the man itself, it was so prominent. "Power is not everything..."

"Open your ears, you deluded moron!" Dayne shouted. "Didn't I tell you what I'm fighting for? Who I'm fighting for?"

"You're convictions are meaningless!"

"They are not!" With Dayne's temper rising, the energy about him flared up, growing brighter and bigger. "I've place all my heart behind those kids, I stake my entire life on them! So believe me when I say it: I would gladly give my life today, to build them all a better tomorrow!"

Again, the aura began to change shape, growing in sheer intensity and magnitude, but the changes were much more drastic than that. The blue flame began to shift, from wild and uncontrolled, to a pure, focused shape. The energy wrapped around his body, growing and pulsing, evolving, sharpening, and transforming, eventually taking the form of a set of large, magnificent butterfly wings jutting out from his back, made of the shimmering energy!

"I am not afraid of you, Dayne Rivera!" Cassius bellowed in challenge, taking a fighting stance. "Come! See what your useless convictions will sow.

Before meeting his opponent in battle, Dayne spoke, his voice almost a whisper against the roar of his wings. "These are my convictions. Take them, and see what they truly are. See who I truly am. This is everything I am. Take it all."

With a violent, sudden burst of movement – so fast it seemingly caused a sonic boom – Dayne charged at Cassius, driving Butterfly Rain down on the unprepared Immortal, stunning him with it's power. "This is my sorrow! This is my rage! This is my fear! This is my joy, my hatred, my love, my weakness, my strength, my life, my death! Take it all, Cassius!" Dayne punctuated every word he uttered with an attack. A brutal hammering smash or a terrible, rending slash, battering Cassius to hell with his violent assault. A downward stab to the thigh, nearly severing the leg in two. Striking his spine with the flat of his blade, throwing Cassius off kilter and away. A two-handed strike to the chest, the blunt blow cracking his stone-like skin. "This is my everything!"

Dayne's declaration was followed by a grand slash, his entire body and weight put behind it, and wave of energy following the slash itself. The blow caused Cassius to fly away from Dayne, his body now covered in cracks and rents, blood trickling across his alien body. His katanas were shattered into pieces, as he landed in a heap, several yards away from Dayne.

Defiant to the bitter end, Cassius tried to get back to his feat, gasping for breath. "I-I shall not let it end this way..."

"You don't have a choice in the matter, Cassius. Something's are beyond our control, and we must except that fact!" All of the energy that had created his wings, began to flow down Dayne's body and into his Keyblade, causing the ancient weapon's blade to be engulfed in a thick blanket of electrical energy. "You're a miserable creature, full or arrogance and greed, with contempt for everything but yourself. I have no pity for you, and wish for you nothing less than the worse punishment than hell has to offer!"

"Save me the speech, _hero_!" Cassius spat out with the vilest of contempt. "Do not dare pass judgement on me without passing it on yourself! You think you're better than me? Do no make me laugh! You're just like me!"

"I am _nothing_ like you!" Dayne raged back, pointing the electrified Keyblade at Cassius. "I am better than you in every single goddamned way! You know why? Because one I die, people will cry for me! They will remember me! _That_ is true immortality right there, parasite! At the most, you'll be remembered as an annoying footnote in the annals of the Keyblade." Dayne reared his Keyblade back and took a step forward.

"So shut up and die already!"

He lunged forward, swinging his Keyblade with all his might.

"FINISHING MOVE!"

Before the weapon hit the ground, it's payload was unleash. A burst of electrical energy launching forward at insane speeds. Far too fast for Cassius to dodge...

"_**STORM'S BUTTERFLY!"**_

The burst collided with Cassius, exploding outward and engulfing Cassius in the blast, taking the form of a large butterfly-shaped bloom of electricity, the alien dimension enlightened by the bright blue sigil!

The blast died down, the dim roar of a storm fading away, leaving only Dayne's heavy breathing as the existing sound. Cassius's entire body was scorched and torn, once again disintegrating, as the Immortal leader was left shocked and confused at his ultimate fate.

"I...am...Immortal!" He managed to croak out. The orb on his chest shattered, before his body crumbled into dust.

Dayne dismissed Butterfly Rain and fell backwards onto his back.

Sure enough, without Cassius and Zirconiade around, this dimension was collapsing. The stars in the sky were blinking out of existence, one by one, the other celestial bodies being likely snuffed out. A deep rumbling sounded throughout the bizarre space, as the glassy floor crumbled away into the void. In the centre of it all, Dayne laid spent and exhausted; even if he had a way back, he would not be able to reach it. Indeed, he had given his everything in that final assault.

And yet, he felt no fear in this. Death was coming for him, and he would not fight or resist. It was about time. He had lived for seventy-eight years after all. Almost seventy-nine.

A long life full of so many memories...many of the best ones he could still see and feel like it was yesterday. All the enemies, the friends, the fights... He remembered his first night after defecting from the Immortals, him and Rain staying in a hotel on some long-forgotten world. The day they discovered the Garden and the day the joined the Guardians. When they were formally introduced to Kairi, a shy little girl frightened by Dayne's size at first. She had tugged on his hair when he first picked her up, saying she thought the colour was pretty. He remembered losing practice duels to Queen Beatrix, and the piles of shit he was fed afterwards, always done as a joke though. He remembered the one night he, Braig, Dilan, Aeleus, and Even went out to a bar. He and Braig got thoroughly plastered and locked Even in a dumpster overnight. And he remembered Rain most of all. The warmth of her body next to his, lying in bed. The feeling of her kisses, and how it felt the first time they made love...

"Yeah... All and all, it was a pretty good life."

And with that, Dayne Rivera the Immortal shut his eyes for the last time, as the darkness consumed him. Last thing her felt, was the sensation of falling.

* * *

They disembarked on one of Salm's shorelines, at around eight in the evening, and the sendoff seemed rather abrupt and awkward. Losing an ally never made things any better, no matter what the circumstances.

"I guess this is goodbye, everyone." Alphonse stated.

"For now." Sora turned to Aqua and Terra. "We still have stuff to do, don't we?" Three Keyblade Wielders were still dormant around the universe, and it seemed that there were enemies about. That new Nobody they encountered.

"You do." Aqua said with a sad nod. "We'll return to you in about a month's time. Don't worry about it until then, though. Enjoy your last month of summer." Her weak smile seemed to suggest they were going to need that extra bit of relaxation.

"So, is everyone ready?" Terra turned to the group. The handful of beings not from the Islands look a little noncommittal to leaving, as if they could leave or stay. Kalyn stepped to the front of the group.

"Actually...I was wondering if it would be okay for me to stay here? Not go back to Ivalice..." She put forward the question in a very sheepish and quiet voice, taking most everyone by surprise.

Terra shrugged. "Won't hurt if you do, I guess." He turned to the Islanders. "You're okay with this?"

"Yeah." Said Riku.

"I wonder why..." Roxas muttered, drawing a glare from Riku and Kalyn.

"I'm sure we can find some place for her." Sora offered.

"Alright then. Now if that's all settled – What the heck is that?" The knight pointed up into the sky

Everyone turned about to see what Terra was pointing at: A shooting star was streaking through the evening fall sky, a not too unfamiliar sight for Kairi.

"A shooting star?" Namine raised an eyebrow.

"It couldn't be?" Riku turned to Sora. The two were wearing the same expression. "Could it?"

Kairi didn't wait around for an answer. The redhead bolted away from the group, towards where the star looked like it would land. Everyone else soon followed suite.

"This is the one thing I'm not gonna miss here..." Ed grumbled. "No one gives a solid answer to anything."

* * *

With a loud, wet smack, he fell into darkness.

Sensation returned to his body. Touch no longer muted and constrained. Now it was his body that was constrained, moving slowly as he thrashed about in his unknown surroundings. He opened his eyes, but only saw a dark, blurry world. His eyes and nostrils began to burn. He tried screaming, calling out for help, but no sound came. His surroundings rushed down into his throat, burning it just like his eyes. Thrashing even more wildly, he saw a glimmer of light through the distortion, and headed there on instinct...

He surfaced out of the ocean, and took a deep breath, salt water trickling down him as the setting sun beat down on the paradise he had landed in.

"Dayne!"

He reacted at his named being shouted out, looking for the source. On the shore of a nearby island, stood Kairi, and Sora, and Roxas and Namine and everyone else. All of them shared a startled, stunned expression, one which must have been mirrored on Dayne's face.

He didn't know what was happening, how he was back, whether this was the real world or the afterlife. He swam towards the shore and his friends, cutting through the choppy waters, his body apparently not realizing it had just gone through a hellacious battle a few minutes ago. Or was it even minutes? Maybe hours? He didn't care.

He clambered out of the water, his outfit soaked through, but there was not a cut on it or his body. He peeled his soak hair away, it being pasted to the front of his face. _This is real... _He was indeed standing in front of his friends, who were shocked, but happy nonetheless.

"What happened to your hair?" Sora asked suddenly, causing Dayne to double take. This was the kind of greeting he was getting?

"Oh, that's a nice way to greet me..." Dayne pawed through his wet hair, looking at a handful of soaked strands. "Oh...I see." The steel-blue colour it had always been had darkened a shade or two. The oddest part though was several streaks of new colour. A fringe of spikes on either side of the front of his hair were now the oddest shade of deep crimson. The effect looked quite ridiculous, and everyone chuckled slightly at the sight of the now bi-coloured haired man.

"Um...here." Terra, who himself looked completely lost at this turn of events, offered Dayne a hand in assistance. Strangely, Dayne took it without protest, but was soon left behind. When their hands clasped together, Terra looked positively thunderstruck, backing away from Dayne quickly.

"What is it?"

"You're...you're human." The words left Dayne and everyone there silent, so Terra continued. "I don't know how...but you're not an Immortal anymore. Nothing about you _feels _like an Immortal. It's just...human."

For the rest of his life, Dayne and everyone he knew would never truly know how he came back to life, or how he was reincarnated as a human. Maybe it was the Keyblade? Maybe it was the fact that he used all of his excess hearts up in his Infuse? Or maybe the Gods just loved him (Dayne always suggested that one jokingly), but they were thankful regardless.

Dayne looked like he was on the verge of tears by the time he stood, sand clinging to wet black leather. Everyone around him were smiling at him, even people he barely knew like the Elrics, Kalyn, Aqua, and King Mickey. It was overwhelming, confusing, but wonderful.

Then, he saw Kairi.

_How am I gonna confront her now?_ She was still holding onto his coat. _That look on her face when I left her, I hurt her so bad... She couldn't want me back now._ "Kairi, listen, I-"

"Here." She offered him his longcoat back. He looked dumbfounded for a moment, taking the jacket mechanically. "Welcome back to my family's service, Dayne Rivera." She said with a bit of a smile. "If I'm going to rule, I'll need people like you by my side."

That was too much for Dayne. He almost broke down there and then, raising a hand to cover his watering eyes. "Princess..." Wiping away the tears, he flourished his coat around and slid it on over his shoulders. _Yeah...This feels right._ He smiled back at the young girl. _This is my place._

With a wave of her hand, Aqua summoned a shimmering golden portal, signalling this was farewell, for now.

"Take care you guys." Sora gave Donald and Goofy a hug. "Man, it's as if I barely got to see you guys on this trip."

"There's always next time, Sora." Donald assured the Keyblade Wielder.

"Yep." Goofy agreed. "We're far from done. Still plenty more adventures for us to go!"

Donald nodded. "Besides, you're going to be coming back to the Castle in a month. Got to pick up Waltz and everything."

"Guess I am. See you guys sometime in September then!"

"Take care, you two." Riku shook hands with both alchemist brothers. "Good luck on getting your bodies back." Riku and Edward shared a look and a nod. The warrior of Dawn was no stranger with quests of self-redemption.

"We'll try our best, Riku." Alphonse said.

"Yeah. Though it'll be nice getting away from this craziness for a month..." Ed said with a sly grin.

"Oh, come on." Namine broke in. "You enjoyed your time with us. You're gonna miss us!"

The Fullmetal Alchemist waved her off. "Keep telling yourself that, lady..."

"You not going or something?" Dayne said to Kalyn. As the others began to walk to the portal, Dayne noticed that she hadn't moved.

"No... I decided I want to stay here for the time being." Oddly, she lightly place a hand on Riku's shoulder, causing the silver-haired teen to jolt up, arrow straight.

"I see..." The newly reincarnated man said, rubbing his face, giving Riku a sly look. "So it's like that, eh?"

"Like what? He said defensively. "What do you mean?" He was acutely aware that Kalyn was still touching his shoulder.

"Um...Riku?" He turned to look at Sora. "Why is your Keyblade up and out?"

"Huh?" Then he saw it. Dark Before Dawn had indeed appeared in his hand. How? He didn't know. He didn't remember consciously summoning it. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I think we know what it means..." Roxas muttered with a mischievous grin.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, Chocobo Hair!"

"Ahem!" Everyone turned to look at Aqua. She and Terra were standing in front of the shimmering portal, with everyone else having left already. "We just wanted to say, while we had the chance, from the bottom of our hearts..."

Both brother and sister crossed their right arms over their chests and bowed at the waist.

"Thank you."

"No problem, guys." Sora smiled back. "I've done this so many times now, it's as natural as breathing or sleeping."

Aqua smiled back at him. "Glad to hear it, Sora. Well, we'll leave you to your summer, then." She checked over her shoulder. "It looks like you're keeping a few people waiting." A distance away from them, the combined families of the Salm natives stood, waiting for their children to finally return to their safe embrace.

"Take care, everyone!" Terra waved at the seven. They all returned farewells, and the two Keyblade Wielders stepped through the portal, which closed itself behind them. Everyone followed their example, leaving themselves, but heading towards their families instead, cheerful at their victory, and deeply wanting to sleep at home, not having to wake up in the morning, only to save the worlds again.

Everyone that is, except Dayne. And Sora.

"Aren't you coming, Dayne?" The hero asked the older man, who stood aloofly alone. He acted like he didn't hear him, staring towards the ocean with cool regard. Doing what he did best, Sora sighed and walked up to the reincarnated human, stretching up.

"W-what are you doing?" Sora's fingers grabbed at Dayne's cheeks and lips, distorting his face into a wide, comedic smile. "Get you're fingers out of my mouth!" He mumbled, wrenching away from Sora.

"C'mon. Smile!" Sora demonstrated to the ex-Immortal. "This ship runs on happy faces!" Dayne gave him a perplexed look. "Now, are you coming with us?"

"I dunno...isn't that a family thing?"

"Family and friends." Sora said. "And don't say something stupid like 'I'm you're friend?' Yes, Dayne. You are. It would be hard not to be after all the crap we've been through. Besides, Kairi would want you to be there, too. Just like she wants me to be there." With a thin smile on his face, Dayne nodded, and the hero and the guardian walked towards the rest of their friends. "Now, we got one month to ourselves, and I don't know about you, but I want to live this summer like it's my last!"

**THE END**


	49. Credits

Chapter 49: Credits

_So, this isn't much of a chapter really. Just a few loose scenes that are kind of like the credit's video in a KH game. I also wanted to take this opportunity to express a few thought I've had through this fic, and share them with you._

On Twilight Town, Hayner stands in the centre of the sandlot, CM Punk to his side. The older teen raises Hayner's hand in victory, his other hand currently holding the Struggle championship he just one. The young man looks out disbelievingly to the adoring, cheering crowd, his friends cheering the loudest of them all. Olette breaks out of the crowd, running to congratulate him, and she does. With a sudden surprise kiss. Everyone looks at her in surprise, as she backs away sheepishly. Hayner though, welcomes it, picking Olette up by the waist, spinning her around and laughing, celebrating his win with his girlfriend.

_This is actually not the first time I have written fan-fiction, but this is the first time I have completed something. I feel a lot of pride in actually getting this done, though it took me long enough. I'll admit, I had huge breaks in updates, spelling and grammar could be atrocious at times, and continuity is rather rather screwy. I'll try better for the sequels, I promise. Though, maybe one day you might see Kingdom Hearts: Re: Genesis of Destiny..._

Leon stands back, surrounded on all sides by the entirety of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee. Everyone stands together, admiring the product of all their hard work, and a symbol of the newly reborn Garden. Starfall Castle stands, proudly and magnificently, fully repaired and restored, matching it's past-splendour once again.

_Obviously, a writer is nowhere without his fans. So I want to thank everyone out there, all of you reading right now. If you ever left a review, made me a favourite author, made this story a favourite story, or put me on your alerts, then I thank you with all the sincerity and gratitude the world has to offer._

Bowing down in the sight of countless warriors and court members, within the glimmering white halls of Disney Castle, Waltz Highwynder – the last dragoon – feels King's Crown touch lightly upon his shoulders. Words are uttered by it's wielder, King Mickey Mouse, who Waltz now looks up to. The young man rises, as a violet cape trimmed in gold is placed on his shoulders. He knelt a boy, he rose as a Knight of Disney Castle.

_I also want to thank a few specific people, while I am at it. First, my fellow users **ShireFolk**, **InfiniteFreedom**, and **Sakkee**. I want to thank you three for being great friends, always being there to drop reviews, and for dealing with my insanity and my fanboyism, no matter how rampant it got. You guys are awesome, and I hope you stick around further down the road!_

The match that he'd always wanted. Trowan Enkian stands opposite to the son of Zeus, the heroic demigod himself, Hercules. No tricks, no interferences, no shady deals, just a one on one duel. Maybe he wouldn't find a way home if he won, but his new friend had promised him to use his powers to help him realize his dream. Just the promise was enough for the Summoner. With a grin, he draws his xiphos blade and charges.

_I also want to thank the person that is like a little sister to me. One this site, she is known as **McBlizzy** and I want to thank her for all the times she helped me with personal issues or issues I had with the story. For just being there, humouring me when I rant and ramble, and letting me bounce random ideas off of her. Now, if I could only get her to read the actual story..._

In a field in China, Rin, Mulan, and Mushu stand before a large wooden log standing upright into the sky, an arrow stuck at it's top. This is an old training exercise that Mulan once had to perform. Rin would climb up the log, with brass weights attached to her wrists, and try and pluck the arrow from the top. The young woman instantly attacks the task with much enthusiasm, only to fall halfway up, landing hard on her head. Mulan and Mushu flinch at the injury, but Rin bounds up as if nothing had happened, grinning widely and going right back to the task at hand.

_But all in all, I was happy with how this turned out. I'm very proud to finally finish, and like the end result, and look forward to continuing the story that I have begun._

On some far-flung world, Terra is having a discussion with a man. He had been searching for this man for some time, glad to finally found him. After explaining the situation at hand, the man grins and laughs. He has piercing green eyes, and red hair, bright and wild as fire...

_So, I hope everyone will come back to me when the sequel comes up. Until then..._

_But wait! What about that month in between? Well, I'm glad you asked, because starting July 9th, I'll begin a little ficlette entitled "Last Summer Dreams" covering the brief time after the Immoral incident and the sequel itself. Hope you enjoy it, when it comes out._

_Until then, farewell my friends, take care, and I hope you enjoyed Genesis of Destiny. 'Cause we're just beginning this journey!_


	50. Epilogue

Epilogue

Tiny flecks of pink light float from below, gently wafting higher and higher. They are attracted by the light permeating the darkness.

The false Kingdom Hearts that Xemnas had struggled so hard to build, was slowly growing larger and larger with every heart it ingested. Now, it was as large as when DiZ destroyed it, four months prior. But they would not stop there. Though it paled in comparison to the strength of the real Kingdom Hearts, great power could still be extracted from it.

Anarados watched the steady stream of hearts, their light reflecting off of his glass helmet. This was the last step in their preparations. Only a month remained before they would strike out, and they needed to be ready for every eventuality. He had Loxe gathering information, Xastuur raising troops from the Realm of Darkness, Craxcen out devastating worlds, creating Heartless and Nobodies. Meixing, Arxeis, and Cepssix were trying to forge relationships with potential allies, Cncrixapro and Quarixaus were trying to undermine the plans of their allies, and he was slaying as many Heartless as he could, to fee their project.

They would be ready. They would be strong. They would crush the Keyblade Wielders and be victorious.

Looming behind Anarados, was another figure, perched up on an large throne. It stood covered head to toe in elaborate black and silver armour, with an iron crown attached to the top of it's helmet. Spikes jut from it's pauldrons, gauntlets, greaves, and sabatons. Picked out in silver on it's breastplate is the image of a silver heart, wrapped in chains. The armoured figure sits still and silent, but it's presence was felt by all who came out to the altar.

With his left hand, Anarados ran a hand over his glass visor, while flexing his right. He would not wait much longer. Twenty-two years had separated them; for him, they were years of preparing and planning. For him, twenty-two years of running, hiding, and cowering.

No longer. Destiny would finally bring them together.

Crushing his right one last time, Anarados relished the idea of finally crushing him. Of exacting his revenge.

* * *

"Ventus..."

The armoured man paid no attention to Aqua's quiet pleading. He stripping himself of the layers of cloth and spiked metal that was laid over his true armour. He only wore that to hid his identity from Sora, Kairi, and Riku.

"So, that was some warm-up you had planned for them, Terra." The brunet regarded Ventus with cool eyes. He looked rather out of place compared to his adopted siblings, wearing his armour. It was mostly black, but several pieces were coloured various shades of gold, green, and blue. His pauldrons, gauntlets, and breastplate were all sky blue, trimmed and chased in gold. His gauntlets rose up and flared out as they approached his elbow, forming a curved metal fin on his arm. Blue and green bits covered his hips, with raised, spiked greaves starting at his knees. The helmet was a curved black glass visor, the jawline done in gold, the majority of it being sky blue, with two fins jutting out of the top of it.

"It will have to do." Terra quickly looked back Aqua. "They're going to have to learn on the fly, unfortunately." Aqua remained silent, looking down at her feet. Ventus was seemingly avoiding looking at her.

"If that's all there is then, I best be going." Ventus nodded at the two and turned around. Aqua acted, lighting-quick, grabbing one of his hands.

"Ven!" She pleaded loudly, using his nickname. "Please don't go again. We can all work together. Whatever it is you have plan." Ven made no movement, standing deathly still. His hand was shaking, armour rattling loudly. "Please Ven, don't leave me again..."

"Aqua..." Ven turned around, as the shaking spread across his body, his armour shaking louder. "I'm sorry... I really am." His hand slipped out of her grip. "Stay safe, for me." In a blur of green light, the armoured man vanished, leaving Aqua to shrink back into herself.

Terra placed a hand on her shoulder. "He'll come to his senses. He'll have to, or else avoid us for this entire ordeal." This did little to comfort her. "He's just afraid, and using that incident as an excuse."

She nodded fast. "I-I suppose..."

"C'mon, sis. We need to get going. It'll take time to undo the Oath, and then we need to train if we want to be strong enough for all this."

"I just wish we could help them more..."

"You're too nice for your own good, Aquarius..." He said with a soft smile. "But we can help them. We just need a little bit of time."

The two nodded, and then left on their separate paths, without another word.

_Please come back to me, Ven..._ She thought. _We need you. I need you..._

_I hope you're ready, Dias._ He thought. _For your sake, the sake of your family. I hope you're ready..._

* * *

Sora found him sitting on a log overlooking the beach near their house.

He had no idea why his dad had wandered off before dinner, but it seemed like he was looking at something. Dias Alleris was wearing a sleeveless shirt, so his son could see the odd tattoo that was branded on his right bicep. The letters "MAhD" where the A was crossed out, the H was the only letter written in lower case, and the D was written in mirrored script. He never knew what that meant, never asked, and his dad never seemed to want to divulge.

"Hey, dad?" Sora sat next to him on the log. "It's dinnertime."

"Oh." There was a photo gripped in his hand. "Sorry. Tell your mom I'll be right there."

"'Kay..." Sora looked over his dad's shoulder. "What's the photo?" It was old, having been folded and creased and crumpled a thousand times, it seemed. It depicted three people; a young Dias Alleris, grinning widely, his spiked, honey-blond hair standing out. To his right, their arms intertwined, was a young girl around Sora's age, smiling like Dias, her black hair done in lazy ringlets. The third person looked at odds with the other two. He was another teenaged boy, but he was not right next to the other two, and he didn't smile. He looked rather distant, aloof, almost unhappy.

"Hey, who are these two?"

"Oh...uh..." Dias looked a little apprehensive to answer. "That's Hitomi." He pointed to the girl. "She was my first girlfriend."

"And the guy."

Dias shut his eyes for a moment, a bit longer than a standard blink. With one hand, he folded the photo back up. "His name is Anarados. He was my best friend."

**To Be Continued**

_Genesis is the beginning. The beginning of what?_

_In this case, the Revolution._

_Destiny Revolution Act 00: Genesis – Ends_

_Destiny Revolution Act 01: Heart's Fire – Begins, soon._

_Join me for the second story, where the battle truly begins_

"_It's time to open the Door to the Worlds' Revolution"_


End file.
